James Kelly

I’ve written code in just about every mainstream desktop, web server language, and scripting language in use today.

Every language I’ve ever attempted to learn I’ve come by quickly through my own persistence. I can usually pick up a new language in a few hours or days becoming proficient with it in 10 to 30 days depending on complexity.

Some code skills that I haven’t mentioned, and that I believe you come by and have to know to call yourself a developer, are SGML based “languages” (like XML, RSS, XHTML, and the like), Scripting languages (JavaScript, LiveScript, VBScript, ActionScript), and various data transfer methods (SOAP and RPC).

Standards are very important to me. I will fudge them when there is no way around it due to time constraints, requests, or compatibility issues, however I always strive for compliance when possible.

This section isn’t meant to go over every language I’ve ever used, but instead is meant to be a highlight of languages I’ve used with the intent to prove that I possess the ability to leverage learned concepts and applying them to new languages and concepts.

One language that I specifically omitted is ASP. I have a great deal of experience with ASP but do not consider it a solution for any new development.

This is one of the first languages I learned as a professional; unfortunately I’ve had very few opportunities to use it.

One occasion that I did use it was to eradicate corruption caused by a version of Nimda (a virus) on over 20,000 files that hadn’t been backed up. Virus scanners couldn’t remove the corruption because the virus itself had somehow malfunctioned and instead of replicating itself, it replicated part of a printer driver file into all the files it should have infected, sometimes many times.

This of course resulted in all of the files becoming totally unusable. As could be expected, many people were experiencing a great deal of anxiety over this because the files represented well over $200,000 of time, energy, and expense.

In about 6 hours I was able to analyze, write, compile and test a nifty little program that recursively ran through every file system infected, restoring 97% of the files to fully functional binaries.

While I enjoy working with this language, it simply isn’t feasible most of the time. However, knowing C++ has gone a long way toward allowing me to pick up other languages quickly.

Visual basic has been a language I’ve used to solve problems for employers and clients for years. Applications I’ve developed include stand-alone desktop applications as well as applications which take advantage of the Internet.

One client wanted a web based shopping cart with a content management system that was NOT web based. In other words, the client wanted a system they could update on laptops and that would synchronize with their web page. Visual Basic.NET allowed me to quickly create a management system that both fit their needs and grew with them.

Visual Basic.NET really enabled those I supervised and myself to develop applications and modules to solve problems reliably and fast.

My most recent development experience has been with PHP and Apache on LINUX servers. PHP is an incredibly robust language and I’m embarrassed to say, having worked with it many years prior as a CGI, I never really gave it another chance.

Luckily, I was forced to work with it again for the first time almost three years ago and have never looked back. It is a powerful language and can hold its own with most other languages today.

Now that it has fully come of age and supports advanced concepts like classes and inheritance it is truly a valid solution for many applications.

The majority of the solutions I’ve developed in the past three years have been with PHP. The open source community has given me a lot of leverage allowing me to take concepts, modules, and even fully developed solutions and mold them to my own and my clients needs with less time and financial resources invested.

I typically use MYSQL with PHP but in my opinion, the power of PHP really shines when coupled with a DBMS like MS SQL server.

I have developed many server side web properties with C# and ASP.NET. Most of them admittedly smaller applied solutions, but with my background for scalable solutions, presented with a challenge, I have complete confidence in my ability to perform in this regard, especially teamed with other professionals. My lack of experience with C# specifically has been mostly due to customers requesting VB.NET solutions.

Most of the development I’ve done with the server side of .NET has been outside of Microsoft Visual Studio and has been commercial in nature (shopping cart systems and dynamic sites). However, I have had opportunity to create various web controls and class based systems.

Various projects have also required me to develop a couple of ISAPI based solutions using C#.

Having been one of the first 100,000 Cold Fusion developers globally, I’ve been developing Cold Fusion applications since version 2.0. That gives me over 8 years of Cold Fusion development experience which makes me a veteran regarding this language.

I’ve developed web based Cold Fusion applications freestyle, using Fusebox, and other methods based on the task at hand and the requirements of clients. I haven’t developed any Cold Fusion applications since version 6.0 because recent projects haven’t required it.

Anymore, Cold Fusion is just too expensive for most to justify when other solutions like PHP and .NET are available. However, with my Cold Fusion background I can confidently say that I could quite easily come up to speed on the advancements in a day or two.

Applications I’ve developed or overseen the development of include:

• A web based MS SQL Server data repository of over 5 million records and a three dimensional VRML front end.
• Many shopping cart and content management systems
• Online bid management systems for the Department of Energy
• Real time media streaming and management systems
• And dozens of smaller applications and web sites

The first “web site” I ever created was with Cold Fusion 2.0 and was written using MS Notepad as the development environment.

CGI is a language I’ve used quite infrequently. Rarely was there a time that I could justify delving into the depths of CGI. Frankly, the only solution I’ve ever developed with CGI was while developing a custom web based file up loader in PHP. I needed CGI to help make a rudimentary progress bar. I’m certain many others could have done far better and it was rough, but it worked.

Regarding servlets; I’ve never written anything using this technology. I’m confident I could, but I’ve never seen the value, nor had a request to develop anything with this methodology.

Java is a language that I have used in the past but haven’t touched in the last 3 years. I am competent with Java, but far from proficient (in my opinion).

My first introduction to Java was a trial by fire. A client came to my boss and wanted two pieces of an application. A web based UI in the form of a java applet, and a client side Java application to manage the backend.

My boss quickly accepted the three-week deadline assuming I had previous knowledge of Java, which I didn’t. I complained naturally, and then quickly got to work to meet the deadline, which we did. It took me a week to come up to speed on at least some of the practices, syntax, and concepts, and two weeks to develop a fully debugged deliverable.

Needless to say, the client went away happy, paid his bill, and we breathed a collective sigh of relief, even me…I just didn’t let anyone see.

Python is a language that I am not very familiar with at all, however, based on what I have seen and read, I do not fear it and feel that if need be, I could come up to speed with very little investment of time.