Publication
Hunting Down Memory Issues In Ruby: A Definitive Guide
https://www.toptal.com/developers/ruby/hunting-ruby-memory-issues
Bruz is currently unavailable
Bruz Marzolf
Verified Expert in Engineering
Back-end Developer
Snohomish, WA, United States
Toptal member since January 14, 2016
Bio
Bruz is a full-stack developer who has loved building things for the web since he first started doing it over 15 years ago. Bruz has spent a lot of time on the back end building services with Ruby and Elixir and working with databases and infrastructure but has also done substantial work on the front end building apps in JavaScript.
Portfolio
Bruzilla Development
TypeScript, React, Ruby on Rails (RoR), PostgreSQL, API Integration
Inkarnate
TypeScript, React, MobX, Elixir, PostgreSQL, SQL Performance, Linux, Docker...
Habit
React, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby, PostgreSQL, Docker, Redis, SQL Performance...
Experience
- Ruby - 17 years
- Ruby on Rails (RoR) - 17 years
- Back-end - 17 years
- Database Design - 17 years
- JavaScript - 12 years
- PostgreSQL - 10 years
- React - 8 years
- Elixir - 4 years
Preferred Environment
Git, MacOS, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Terminal
The most amazing...
...project I've worked on involved leading the development of a complex back end that scaled to millions of users, plus working on the sophisticated front end.
Work Experience
Software Engineer (Self-employed)
2023 - PRESENT
Bruzilla Development
- Built a web app to integrate with a financial institution and automate tedious handling, saving over a week of manual work per month.
- Upgraded a legacy Ruby on Rails application, adding tests to prevent regressions and heavily refactoring to improve code quality.
- Designed, built, and released a mobile app using TypeScript, React, and Capacitor.
Technologies: TypeScript, React, Ruby on Rails (RoR), PostgreSQL, API Integration
Staff Software Engineer
2019 - 2023
Inkarnate
- Led all back-end development, including infrastructure, database design, and the API.
- Built an entirely new API using Elixir to facilitate scaling up the product and enabling new capabilities and seamlessly transitioned a large user base over to it.
- Developed significant features in the complex front-end app using React and TypeScript.
Technologies: TypeScript, React, MobX, Elixir, PostgreSQL, SQL Performance, Linux, Docker, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Functional Programming, Back-end, Database Design, Front-end, APIs, Phoenix, REST APIs, CSS, DigitalOcean, Full-stack, Graphs, Tailwind CSS, Heroku, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Senior Software Engineer
2016 - 2019
Habit
- Built new features, working across the Ruby on Rails back end and React front end.
- Implemented a data analysis pipeline used to provide personalized results for users based on their lab results.
- Added efficient and comprehensive testing methodologies to allow validation of highly personalized user results.
Technologies: React, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby, PostgreSQL, Docker, Redis, SQL Performance, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Back-end, Database Design, Front-end, APIs, REST APIs, CSS, Full-stack, Graphs
Freelance Web Developer
2010 - 2017
Fat Cork
- Built the initial eCommerce site for the business using a framework to quickly get to market.
- Overhauled the initial eCommerce app to provide a custom back-end interface that better matched their business.
- Included a high level of unit test coverage for the complex business logic in the overhauled app, and a large end-to-end test suite to provide high confidence when making changes.
- Proactively monitored issues with the site and fixed them.
- Managed email accounts and other IT needs of the company.
Technologies: Redis, PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Back-end, Database Design, CSS, DigitalOcean, Intuit QuickBooks, Full-stack
Back-end Ruby on Rails Engineer
2016 - 2016
Clustrix (via Toptal)
- Optimized memory usage extensively to operate within a relatively small memory footprint.
- Redesigned various database-intensive operations to greatly improve performance while still maintaining the same simple API.
- Rewrote a key multi-threaded background process to improve speed and reliability.
- Wrote and maintained Bash utilities used by customers to maintain their installations.
- Added an API annotation system that provided both parameter validation as well as API documentation.
Technologies: Bash, SQL, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby, Linux, SQL Performance, Back-end, APIs, REST APIs
Senior Front-end Engineer
2016 - 2016
Luno (via Toptal)
- Created various new user interfaces in a sophisticated React stack that used state management with Redux, universal rendering, and data fetching.
- Implemented the form handling system used throughout the app.
- Supported a new UI with unit tests for the React components.
Technologies: React, JavaScript, Front-end, CSS
Senior Software Engineer
2011 - 2016
AmpX²
- Led the development of the main Ruby on Rails/Backbone.js customer-facing web app.
- Built 11 Ruby microservices to support various new features.
- Helped transition to a Docker infrastructure from a monolithic application.
- Built a service to package microservices with Docker, streamlining the deployment pipeline.
- Led the development of the web apps for three new rapidly-developed products.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), JavaScript, Docker, MySQL, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby, Linux, Redis, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Back-end, Database Design, Front-end, APIs, REST APIs, CSS, Full-stack, Heroku
Lab Manager
2000 - 2011
Institute for Systems Biology
- Developed and supported web applications for lab workflows, primarily using Ruby on Rails.
- Created data analysis pipelines using the R statistical language.
- Built image analysis tools using Java to support novel research techniques.
- Performed data analysis on data sets for various researchers.
- Demonstrated strong writing skills, authoring journal publications, grant applications, and internal documentation.
Technologies: Java, R, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby, Linux, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Back-end, Database Design, Full-stack
Experience
Fat Cork
Created a custom eCommerce app with a sophisticated back end to support the company's champagne club. It's a complex Ruby on Rails (RoR) app with a large suite of unit and end-to-end tests to allow the app to continually improve with high confidence that it will not break existing features.
Moment Prints
Led the development of a service to make it easy to get photo prints monthly by automatically importing and filtering out bad photos. I used React for the front end, Ruby for the back end, and Python-based machine learning (ML) to inform the filtering algorithm.
My Flare
Developed a large-scale cloud storage and collaboration service. Built with a Ruby on Rails (RoR) and Backbone.js front end. I utilized many technologies on the back end, including several Ruby microservices and an AWS-based infrastructure with Docker.
Education
1996 - 2000
Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry
Western Washington University - Washington, USA
Skills
Libraries/APIs
React, REST APIs, MobX
Tools
Git, Terminal, Capacitor
Languages
Ruby, JavaScript, Elixir, TypeScript, Python, CSS, R, Java, SQL, Bash
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails (RoR), Phoenix, Tailwind CSS, Ionic
Storage
PostgreSQL, Redis, MySQL, SQL Performance, SQLite
Paradigms
Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Functional Programming, Database Design
Platforms
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Docker, Linux, DigitalOcean, Heroku, MacOS, Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
Other
Back-end, Front-end, APIs, Full-stack, Intuit QuickBooks, Graphs, Computer Vision, Supabase, Biochemistry, API Integration
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring