Contract Programming

I do contract programming assignments. I’m flexible about rates, as long as I think I’m not treated unfairly. I’ve even done some assignments pretty much for free for good causes. I like to be paid, as I think what I offer is valuable, but I’m not doing it to live on. I enjoy programming. I enjoy the challenge, the problem solving. It is like solving a puzzle. And I like to keep learning new things. So, I keep programming.

Almost all the programming I do now involves websites. I can provide some references upon request. I build sites with PHP, Javascript and MySQL mostly. Though I have done some with Java (JSP, Applets and Servlets), and I have done one with Ruby on Rails, my skills in those are out of date. For MVC sites I have used the Zend Framework a number of times, and explored converting to Symfony, but never did it.

I write a fair amount of javascript, and I’ve used Prototype and Dojo, but now mostly use JQuery and JQueryUI.

Of course I am thoroughly familiar with HTML and CSS. Sites I build these days are all HTML5 and CSS3.

I have Windows, Mac, and Linux boxes and am expert in using all three. I do all my work in Eclipse or more recently PHPStorm and I keep _everything_ in Subversion and/or Git repositories.

I write C and C++. I used to teach C++ at the University level. I write a lot of bash. I written a few things in Python. I have written a little Perl, a little TCL/TK. By the time you’ve used as many languages as I have, another language isn’t very scary.

Though I have done little experimental apps for Win32, for the Mac, and for Android I don’t consider myself up to speed in any of those areas.

I am a competent linux system administrator and currently manage Arch, Centos, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu systems. I operate my own server on the internet, now running “in the cloud” using Amazon EC2, write my own firewalls, handle my own mail (postfix and  Dovecot), with DKIM, SPF and DMARC, and directory (ldap) services, as well as all the incidental stuff (apache, mysqld, sshd, amavisd and clamav, dhcpd, openssl). My servers use mdadm, and dmcrypt, and a lot of btrfs and ZFS. I have a good understanding of the technology of digital certificates and ssl. I also got myself certified as a security guru at one time (CISSP), but became very disillusioned with the organization and have not keep the certification up.

I have built several sites using WordPress, including learning enough about the WordPress internals to do some plugin customization, and build some integration between a front end WordPress site and a back-end PHP/MySql MVC app. I have done a few patches on a big Drupal site, but am still a Drupal novice.

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