Sabine's Code

Like many before me, my first experience with code was probably my first Tumblr blog. Since then I've dabbled with code a couple of times over the years (the long version is on my Hashnode blog). Turns out I really enjoyed coding, as it allows me to combined my great loves: problem solving, interdisciplinary thinking, and creativity.

I've completed a number of projects in a number of languages - I've realised it's not about the programming language you use or know, it's about what you do with it. So I've focused on building my understanding of programming concepts, problem solving and algorithmic thinking, and learning how to learn.

I am particularly interested in accessible as well as sustainable software development, where consideration is given to every user, and to the environmental impact of the software. Therefore, this website is a11y-friendly, low-impact and low-tech, as I wanted to put what I've learnt into practice, as well as take any small step I can to lowering my carbon footprint. See more on this here.

My GitHub is where most of my code lives.

Some projects I'm proud of:

Kindly

An API using machine learning to detect toxic & harmful messages, with the aim to reduce cyberbullying & make children feel safer & empowering them to communicate with empathy.

I was accepted as an Outreachy intern to work with the Digital Public Goods team at UNICEF as a software developer. The project I was brought on to help with was Kindly, an API that uses machine learning to detect toxic and harmful messages specifically in the context of children. My background in psychology and teaching were a huge asset to the project, as I was able to come in with a holistic approach to the enhancement and development of the project.

Some of my achievements and contributions included:

  • Improved the flow and processing of training data for the ML model
  • Monitored the collection of over 400 contributions
  • Implemented functionality to better keep track of contributions as well as to future-proof training data
  • Improvements to the website
  • Added unit tests for the API
  • Improved the documentation
    • Section specifically for contributions to the project to promote accessibility to open source contributions
    • Collaborated in creating the contribution guidelines
    • Overview of the project's workflow, to ease onboarding of new contributors

Kindly Website Kindly Docs Site Kindly Github Kindly Website Github