My Programming Life in a Nutshell

Started teaching myself QBASIC when I was 11. Having played Warcraft, my future profession was set - I wanted to make games. In school, learnt some Pascal and Delphi, got top in my class. BSc(InfoSys) was my degree of choice when entering Rhodes University. Picked up all sorts of new skills and languages including C#, ASM and Haskell. Had a single semester of web development (basic CSS and HTML) and I was hooked at the speed of thought to visual result. Game design was put on the back burner (for now).

Started my own freelance web design (PHP & MySQL) company while at university, Giffin Studios. Moved to Mombasa a couple years later and worked with MSS (Media and Software Studio) doing more PHP via the Kohana Framework. Spent 5 years in Namibia at Westcosoft building a desktop application using XOJO learning switching to Ruby on Rails. Built (and still maintain) JuggleBee, the first online auction platform in Namibia. Needing a bigger challenge, decided to come to London and join the real rat race. 6 years later, worked my way up through BigSofa Technologies (now Lifestream) from Mid to Lead Backend Engineer.

Linkipoos

Skills

Ruby, Ruby on Rails, TDD, BDD, PHP, HTML / HAML, (S)CSS, JavaScript, YAML, Mysql, PostgresQL, Neo4j, DynamoDB, MongoDB, AWS, Problem Solving, Leadership, Communication, Tutoring, Documentation, VIM, bash

Work Experience

Kallidus

Position: Senior Backend Engineer

Duration: July 2023 - Present

Lifestream (previously BigSofa Technologies Ltd)

Position: Backend Tech Lead

Duration: May 2017 - July 2023

JuggleBee

Position: Cofounder and Developer

Duration: Mar 2014 - Present

Cofounder, developer and maintainer of JuggleBee (jugglebee.com), Namibia’s online auction platform of choice.

Technologies used:

Westcosoft

Position: Principal Software Developer

Duration: Nov 2012 - Jan 2017 (4 yrs, 2 mos)

Media & Software Studio (MSS)

Position: Web Developer

Duration: Jan 2011 - Mar 2012 (1 yrs, 2 mos)

Assisted MSS in developing bespoke websites and web software solutions using the PHP based Kohana Framework.

Griffin Studios

Position: Sole Proprietor

Duration: Feb 2008 - Feb 2011 (3 yrs)

Eastcape Midlands College

Position: Lecturer

Duration: Apr 2008 - Dec 2010 (2 yrs, 8 mos)

Taught three subjects:

Awarded a Certificate for attaining a 100% pass rate in Data Communication and Networking for my class of 2009.