I am a developer with nearly 30 years of programming experience. From back-end work in Elixir, Ruby, Node, Python and more, to front-end work in React, Svelte, Vue, Elm, and good ol’ plain JavaScript, I have significant experience in every level of the application stack and development lifecycle. I have a deep love for good software design, clean code, clear communication, and education and mentoring.
Work Experience
GitHub
At GitHub, I worked on a variety of projects. I was the lead engineer for the development of dark mode on GitHub.com, architecting the necessary workflows and working with the design systems team and the core “dot-com” team to transform Primer, GitHub’s design system, and tens of thousands of lines of CSS to add dark mode support. Thanks to the architecture I designed, the initial phase of the project, including the release to the public, was completed weeks before the deadline.
I also lead the team that developed the Git and GitHub integration for the Atom text editor, and contributed to the development of Electron. A coworker and I taught advanced Git concepts at conferences and workshops, founded the well-received Git School organization, and developed a visualization tool to help understand how Git works under the hood.
Minerva Project
At the Minerva Project, I worked with a small team of engineers to build a WebRTC based real-time audio/video platform for instructors to use for teaching classes. I engineered a system in Elixir to record classes for future review and grading, and received multiple patents for my work.
Personal Projects
Node.js TOML parser
When TOML was first created, I built one of the first parsers for use in Node.js and the browser. This package receives several million downloads monthly.
Planetary.js
Planetary.js was first developed as a visualization tool for web traffic and other real-time events, and I eventually released it as open-source. The project received quite a bit of press around the world.
Fluxxor
When the React team first described their data flow called “flux” I created the very first JavaScript framework that implemented the pattern.
StackOverflow
I have a passion for education, and I believe that the hardest part of software development is communicating well with other humans. On StackOverflow, I’ve ranked in the top 0.1% of users for several years. I believe my answers on SO demonstrate my communication style and my dedication to clear and precise technical writing.