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DeveloperWeek 2017 is the world’s largest developer expo and conference series with over 50 week-long events and dozens of city-wide partner events. The theme this year is, ‘The Industrial Revolution of Code’ – examining the ways in which code is revolutionizing the way we conduct business and ourselves.

To celebrate #DevWeek17, Digital Science – Overleaf's lead investor – are conducting a series of interviews of those involved in the development of new tools and innovations in the research space. Delighted to help kick things off, our very own Dr John Lees-Miller is up first! Here's his first answer; check out the original interview for the full set, including John's advice for those looking to break into the competitive world of software development.

Do you remember the first time when you started experimenting with code and building digital tools?

"The first code I wrote was in Quick Basic on a Tandy 1000 in the corner of my classroom in elementary school. I learned together with a small group of friends, and we mostly wrote little text-based games. I also found ways to write code in my school work, for example, to do my math homework. I’m very grateful that my teachers let me do that.

The first (useful) digital tool I built was when I got a part-time job at a local software company. It helped people translate user interfaces into multiple (human) languages. One of my teachers introduced me to the company, so again, I was very lucky to have great teachers."

Read the rest of John's answers over on the Digital Science blog.

About Dr John Lees-Miller

John is co-founder of Overleaf, a London-based startup and social enterprise that builds modern collaborative authoring tools for scientists to help make science faster, more open and more transparent.

Before starting Overleaf, he did a PhD in engineering mathematics on how to operate fleets of driverless cars efficiently, and he helped design and build the world's first driverless taxi system, the Heathrow Pod, at London's Heathrow Airport.

You can read more on John's personal website.