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alexmcdermid/README.md

Hey I'm Alex

A software developer and solution seeker

I work for moments of clarity after solving the last piece of a challenging problem. I live on the west coast of Canada in Vancouver where I enjoy the outdoors and all it has to offer; I try to make time on the weekends to ski, hike and bike. I studied Cognitive Systems for five years at the University of British Columbia which was a mixture of Computer Science, Linguistics, Philosophy and Psychology. I'm proud to say I've graduated into the tech field where I spend my day to day as a software developer.

IAM

  • A software developer with years of experience in the fast-paced startup ecosystem, primarily focusing on SaaS companies. My expertise lies in building scalable web applications using Java, Ruby, Python, and JavaScript. My roles have often required me to wear many hats.
  • A graduate of the University of British Columbia (Aug 2020), where I completed a BA in Cognitive Systems.
    • Cognitive Systems (COGS) is a multi-disciplinary undergraduate program at UBC involving four departments: Computer Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology.
    • The program provides students with a grounding in the principles and techniques used by intelligent systems both natural and artificial. It emphasizes the study of existing systems (e.g., perception; linguistics), the design of new ones (e.g., machine vision; machine intelligence), and the design of interfaces between different forms of intelligent agents (e.g., human-computer interfaces).
  • Currently employed as a Full Stack Developer at BC Public Service, where I:
    • Contribute to building scalable software solutions for the Ministry of Education and Child Care to serve students and staff across 1,950 schools in British Columbia.
    • Utilize a diverse tech stack to meet the dynamic needs of public service projects, including:
      • Java: For robust backend development.
      • Spring Framework: Developing comprehensive enterprise-level applications.
      • PostgreSQL & OracleDB: Managing data in powerful and reliable database systems.
      • Docker: Containerizing applications to ensure consistency and efficiency.
      • OpenShift: Orchestrating containerized applications for scalability and reliability.
      • Node.js: For efficient server-side scripting to build scalable and high-performance web applications.
      • JavaScript, Vue.js, & TypeScript: Crafting dynamic and engaging user interfaces.
      • Cypress: Implementing end-to-end testing to assure application quality and reliability.

Q&A

  • Questions that I'm seeking answers for
    • What does it take to achieve the 'Senior' title?
  • What energizes me?
    • Coffee... lots of coffee. But on a more serious note, problems to tackle energize my mind and gets me thinking.
  • What depletes my energy?
    • Too many meetings, with the root cause being too much admin overhead, i.e. too many hoops to jump through. Often it can be necessary, but can often feel restrictive and draining.
  • When am I most productive?
    • Usually during the morning hours, this must mean I'm fairly lucky as a West Coaster living in a East Coasters world.
  • Some pet peeves
    • Distracting noises that aren't easily ignored.
    • Poorly documented tickets or inadequate documentation.
  • If you read all the way
    • I try to spend a large portion of my free time outside, but I also spend a equally large portion of my free time playing video games. Usually I pick one and get really into it, if you are interested in knowing which one I play now, ask me!

ADO Contributions

ADO Contributions

Snapshot from Oct 29 2023 (Harled Inc. - Royal Canadian Air Force Contract)

Contact

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  1. Alexander-McDermid-ecc-dssb-IS24-code-challenge Alexander-McDermid-ecc-dssb-IS24-code-challenge Public

    IS-24 Full Stack Developer Position Code Challenge

    Ruby

  2. harled/monocle harled/monocle Public

    Esteemed insight for pundit exceptions.

    Ruby 6

  3. railestate railestate Public

    Railestate is a Ruby on Rails 7 webapp built to explore built in SPA functionality from the Hotwire suite (Stimulus, Turbo).

    Ruby

  4. tigerpins tigerpins Public

    Tigerpin is a webapp that allows users to log places they've been to, and see places that others have been to.

    Python 1 1