ST16 1QA
Tel.: +44 1785 251452
I am a multi-skilled developer who believes that a good knowledge software development is applicable in any language, and rapidly learns new ones. I am interested in Agile processes, but also quite happy with more traditional project management. I have proven management experience, from both software and business points of view and possess first class analytical, problem solving and people skills. I can explain technical things to less technical people. I have knowledge of computing from low-level bit-moving to functional abstractions. (I would rather be at the "high" end of that scale). I am dedicated to achieving and maintaining high standards.
· Commercial (well known):
o Python (3 years, used commercially, current)
o Java (4 years, used commercially, current)
o C/C++ (5 years, limited commercial use, current)
o PHP (5 years, used commercially, current)
· Non-commercial (less well known):
o Visual Basic (3 years, NC, out of date)
o Perl (1 year, used commercially, out of date)
o JavaScript (~1 year, limited commercial use, out of date)
Employment:
Crestsource Limited, March 2002 - date.
Umbrella for consulting and contracting work.
Crestnorth Limited, June 2000 - March 2002.
Umbrella for consulting and contracting work.
Hyperlink Limited, Summer 1999.
Customising PHP software. Security auditing.
BH Associates Limited, Summer 1998.
Technical support for customers. Customers were shipping companies and credit unions, using BH Associates software.
Developed a web-based reporting application for an existing eLearning system (see October 2001 note).
This application uses Java Servlets and JSP to produce
aggregate reports and charts of performance, broken down by company, region,
location, etc. The application is heavily covered by unit tests, and works with
MySQL, Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. A dynamic programming style was adopted
for this project, in so far as Java allows, making heavy use of closures
(simulated by anonymous inner classes).
Implementing a new, web-based, interface for the Anite ATOP system, by layering a new GUI over the existing HTML interface.
This involved screen-scraping the existing application, reformatting the output and also applying additional business rules, which were not originally supported by the underlying application. Python, XML, XPath and HTML Tidy were used extensively
Designed an eLearning platform (server, authoring package) written in Python, and utilising OpenOffice.org for authoring screens.
The system provided for semi-technical University staff to update the content of their own course. Liaised with the graphic design firm and the project management company. Oversaw the management of the technical aspects of the project. This work was funded by the EU, and, therefore, completed on an extremely tight deadline.
Created a group SMS messaging platform for a client to re-sell.
The application consisted of a front-end written in Java, with servlets and JSP, and a backend, originally written in Perl, now in Python. For scalability, the front-end servers enter queued messages into MySQL, using it as a Linda-like distributed tuple-space. Back-end servers periodically sweep this tuple-space, transactionally removing messages as they send them. This application supports over 10,000 end-users.
Built a League Management System for the Irish Tag Rugby Association Limited.
The system handled all aspects of accepting registrations, processing payments, creating the "draw", managing scores entered by referees, and producing league tables. ITRA Ltd. are the fastest growing Summer sports company in Ireland, and the LMS allowed them to increase the amount of players in 2003/2004, while reducing the administrative overhead.
Redeveloped an eLearning course, which had not been designed with any scalability in mind.
Converted from Microsoft Access to MySQL, and from using the ServletContext for state to Sessions. A full code review was performed during this period and numerous bugs and potential races were removed. Initial work was delivered within one week, and work continued on the application as demands arose. Included in this further work was an XML-based testing system, and integration with various HR data-stores. Utilised Java, IBM WebSphere, Tomcat, Sybase ASE, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and JRun.
Designed and developed a reporting tool for a tyre-management application.
Used in the mining and heavy vehicles industry, this system tracked every single tyre installed in a fleet of vehicles, or in storage, and provided up-to-the-minute history and statistics on each, including aggregate views. Utilised Java, a custom HTML package, and Microsoft SQL Server.
Developed the prototype of an SMS platform capable of scaling to multiple machines to handle interactive load.
This experience included setting up an SMPP connection and IPSEC VPN. At the time, experience in this field was extremely rare. The full application was developed in-house by the customer, after the prototype helped them secure funding.
I have contributed patches, code, documentation or resources to some Open Source projects. These include:
As an active member of the Python Community, I regularly blog about Python and software development issues. This includes the release of several small Open Source utilities, which have been featured on Daily Python URL. I have been a member of the Internet Society since early 2003.
Education:
St. Benildus College,
Upper
Notes:
During my second level education, I spent four years as the paid system administrator for the school network. This mainly included Windows 98 and NT hosts, an NT Primary Domain Controller, and Linux file server.
During my third level education,
unhappy with the Computer Science curriculum, I opted for a mid-course
deferral. After completing several successful programming projects, I decided
not return to University.