A little about me...

I'm a Software Engineer based in South Florida ☀️. I am a self-taught developer and have been building software for over 20 years. Much of my focus has been in web applications using mainly CFML, Java, and JavaScript; but in more recent years I've been deep in the world of Vue/Nuxt, TypeScript, and various cloud-based technologies. I love learning new tech and have enjoyed exploring other languages / frameworks / methodologies like Rust, Go, and functional programming in general. When I can find the time, I write about my experiences and insights here. Feel free to check out my projects and experiments over on GitHub.

How I got here...

In high school I wanted to go to college for computer animation and 3D modeling, but that never ended up sticking. In fact, I never ended up going to college. I took a class my junior year using Visual Basic, which was one of my more official forays into programming. Around the same period, I was offered the opportunity to help with graphic design projects which included cutting up designs in Photoshop and building out HTML/CSS templates (remember table designs?!) along with server-side functionality in CFML (ColdFusion 5!). At that point CFML became my main driver for building web apps, and has been a big part of my career ever since. Of course the web platform space has vastly evolved since then and is extremely dynamic, so I've done my best to keep up with the changes and trends.

Me in between...

While I was honing my craft over the years, I wore a few other hats - teaching Martial Arts (Kyokushin Karate/MMA) for many years, and later, working as a cook in various restaurants spanning mom and pop type establishments to French fine dining. I'm an avid hiker that loves being outdoors and a serial hobbies enthusiast; so it's not uncommon for me to dive into new interests.