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I'm a junior software developer with a particular interest in Javascript. I very enthusiastic about coding and learning new technologies and wish to develop this passion even further.
My professional background has been in an unrelated field, but I relish a challenge and am excited by the ever-increasing importance of coding in so many aspects of life and the many possibilities that learning to code can offer.
I am looking to start a career in the tech industry of Brighton or London where I can further grow as a developer and contribute to the success and innovation of a company therein.
| Basic Facebook Clone | Brewdog API | Roomba Game | Event Planner | Orthogonal Quest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A basic Facebook clone built using Rails and React | A React App that searches the Brewdog API and returns beers based on the search term | A Server-Side(Node JS) CL game navigating an imaginary robotic hoover through an equally imaginary room | Single Page Event Planner App tested with a custom built framework | Final group project at Makers Academy - a top-down, adventure game written in Python using the PyGame library |
Please see This link for further evidence of the skills outlined below.
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The Makers course has refined my approach to problem solving as we were faced with challenges daily. For example, one project was to make a custom testing framework and use it to TDD an app. Although making this was both educational and rewarding, it of course doesn’t have the same functionality or usability as established frameworks. I was also still getting to grips with JavaScript at this stage of the makers course. To overcome these issues I utilised my debugging process, specifically using the console to manually test and console.log() to get visibility on my code. Helpfully there was a lot of online documentation on JS and I was able to effectively find relevant solutions.
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My degree in Economics has given me a good basis in maths and analytics. These skills have frequently helped me to solve problems more quickly and smoothly than I otherwise would have.
- I love to learn and am dedicated to seeing projects through to the end, regardless of how challenging they are. Makers has helped to focus my abilities in both of these areas.
- Able to take on new technologies and learn new practices rapidly and efficiently. I actively sought out challenges during the Makers course, including producing our two week final project in Python and Pygame with no prior experience.
- Clear presentation and written communication skills
- Professional telephone manner – frequent customer interaction in former employment.
- Makers really taught me the value of pair programming and agile processes. Our group projects involved daily standups,retros and checkins which help to unify the team. For instance a fellow Maker and team member said:- "As a team we embraced Agile working processes and James was fully committed to this. I loved his measured and well thought out contributions at our stand ups, clear commit messages, and speedy responses to pull requests with really helpful messages. I'd be super happy if I ever had the opportunity to work with James again.”
- Organised the Harveys Brewery team one year for the Lewes raft race. This utilised leadership and teamwork skills as well as mechanical and woodwork skills (to build the raft).
- Duke of Edinburgh award required team skills as well as navigational skills during the hiking and camping.
- I'm comfortable adapting to whichever team role is required by a particular environment, whether that be leading or taking instruction from others.
A 16-week intensive development bootcamp, focusing on:
- Ruby, Rails, JavaScript
- Test Driven Development and Pair Programming
- OOP, MVC, DDD, REST
- Agile methodologies and XP values
- Group projects and code reviews
- BSc Economics
- 2:2
A ‘medium sized’ independent brewery which has brewed traditional beers and ales since 1790.
- Brewery Hand Responsible for brewing, cask filling and maintenance of the capital used for these tasks.
- Guitar: I've played for 18 years now.
- Music: Enjoy going to gigs whenever I can.
- Reading: It's good to have a break from screens sometimes.
- Football, Tennis and Running.