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Mark DiFranco
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Waterloo, ON, Canada
Toptal member since September 22, 2017
Bio
Mark has over 13 years of experience developing apps for iOS devices. He has worked with many different iOS frameworks and is a very quick learner. Mark has a passion for user experience and enjoys designing user interfaces that are a delight to use. He has worked on many small, medium, and large-sized teams.
Portfolio
Faire Wholesale Inc
iOS, Swift, Carthage, Xcode, SwiftUI, Architecture, CI/CD Pipelines, Agile...
Redbox Inc
iOS, Xcode, Swift
Bridgit Inc
Objective-C, Swift, iOS, CI/CD Pipelines, Leadership, Local Data Persistence...
Experience
- Git - 13 years
- iOS - 12 years
- Xcode - 12 years
- Unit Testing - 11 years
- Swift - 10 years
- Dependency Injection - 9 years
- SwiftUI - 7 years
- Core Data - 6 years
Work Experience
Staff iOS Engineer
2019 - 2023
Faire Wholesale Inc
- Worked together with a counterpart on Android to build Faire's Retailer app in six months as a founding iOS engineer. The app was responsible for 25% of revenue post-launch and is currently at 30%.
- Built the iOS team. Crafted a mobile interview process and helped grow the team to 25 iOS engineers. Mentored and created growth opportunities for the team.
- Bootstrapped the iOS Platform team. Designed our new mobile architecture, working with the Android team. Developed an adoption plan, built bridging code to make the conversion easier, and tackled complex conversions myself.
- Took part in Faire's yearly hackathon four years in a row. Led teams to win two out of the four hackathons during my time at Faire.
- Acted as a key contributor to our core UI design system. Built SwiftUI components in sync with web and Android and was responsible for encouraging adoption across the iOS codebase.
- Created a video streaming app for virtual tradeshows similar to Twitch. Built the app in 1.5 months, ahead of schedule. The app was used for Faire's Summer Market event, allowing brands to showcase their products.
Technologies: iOS, Swift, Carthage, Xcode, SwiftUI, Architecture, CI/CD Pipelines, Agile, Leadership, APIs, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), User Experience (UX), eCommerce, UIKit, UI Testing, Git, GitHub, Instant Messaging, VPN, Local Data Persistence, Networks
iOS Engineer
2017 - 2018
Redbox Inc
- Built "Browse" view which allowed users to browse available titles.
- Built the "Filter" view, which lets users filter items by properties such as genre and title.
- Wrote unit tests for new and existing code to ensure the code behaved as intended.
Technologies: iOS, Xcode, Swift
Freelance iOS Engineer
2017 - 2018
Bridgit Inc
- Refactored the Closeout app to remove unsupported third-party dependencies.
- Converted Objective-C classes to Swift, using best practices.
- Updated the iPhone app to properly support iPads, which were widely used by customers.
Technologies: Objective-C, Swift, iOS, CI/CD Pipelines, Leadership, Local Data Persistence, Networks
Freelance iOS Engineer
2017 - 2017
TextNow Inc
- Designed and built a phone and contacts app that integrates with TextNow's services.
- Used dependency injection to achieve maximum unit test coverage.
- Collaborated with the existing iOS team to ensure the new apps integrated with TextNow effectively.
Technologies: Objective-C, Swift, iOS, Instant Messaging
iOS Author
2016 - 2017
LinkedIn Learning
- Created several courses to teach students iOS technologies, including how to use UICollectionView, and how to write testable code in Swift.
- Collaborated with the content manager to ensure the course content was organized in an optimal way.
- Recorded courses in Lynda's on-site recording studio.
- Maintained courses as the technologies evolved, ensuring they were always up to date.
Technologies: iOS, Teaching
Lead iOS Engineer
2013 - 2017
Thalmic Labs
- Developed the iOS SDK for Myo armbands, using the Core Bluetooth iOS SDK.
- Built iOS and desktop applications based on the Myo SDK.
- Designed intuitive user interactions using Myo sensor data.
- Used dependency injection to achieve maximum test coverage.
Technologies: Java, Objective-C, Swift, iOS, Firebase, Architecture, CI/CD Pipelines, Leadership, APIs, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Local Data Persistence, Networks
iOS Developer
2012 - 2013
Fongo Inc
- Fixed bugs and added new features to existing Dell Voice application.
- Built Fongo branded application from the ground up.
- Designed and implemented beautiful user interfaces.
- Automated the localization process for strings and images across mobile platforms and builds.
- Used test-driven development (TDD).
- Utilized Xcode Instruments to test the Fongo app in order to improve speed and responsiveness, and reduce memory leaks.
Technologies: Objective-C, iOS
Project History
Picasso: App Store Screenshot Tool
https://picassoapp.caPicasso is a developer tool to help make generating screenshots for the App Store easier. Picasso helps by automatically adding a device frame to screenshots and ensuring the resulting screenshots are the correct size for the App Store.
Picasso makes localizing the screenshots a breeze. Simply drag a string catalog file in to support screenshots in multiple languages.
Once the screenshots have been designed, Picasso can upload them directly to App Store Connect, saving the developer hours of time manually uploading them.
Picasso makes localizing the screenshots a breeze. Simply drag a string catalog file in to support screenshots in multiple languages.
Once the screenshots have been designed, Picasso can upload them directly to App Store Connect, saving the developer hours of time manually uploading them.
Memento
http://getmemento.caMemento is an app to replace the built-in Reminders app on iOS. The app uses dependency injection to achieve maximum test coverage and custom UICollectionViewLayouts to arrange users' reminders. I was responsible for every aspect of the app, specifically design, UX, code architecture, and marketing.
AirChat: Bluetooth Peer-to-Peer Chat
https://www.airchatapp.caAirChat connects you directly to people nearby and allows you to send and receive messages over Bluetooth. The app's current version uses Apple's Multipeer framework, but I'm working on a version that uses my mesh networking library built on top of Core Bluetooth (BLE).
Education
2007 - 2012
Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Mechatronics Engineering
University of Waterloo - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Xcode Server, CocoaPods
Tools
GitHub, Xcode, Instruments, Git, Xcode Playgrounds, VPN
Languages
Swift, Objective-C, Java
Frameworks
SwiftUI, Core Data, Core Bluetooth, UIKit
Paradigms
Concurrent Programming, Dependency Injection, Unit Testing, Agile
Platforms
iOS, Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), Firebase, MacOS
Industry Expertise
Teaching
Other
Carthage, UI Testing, Software, APIs, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Engineering, CI/CD Pipelines, Leadership, User Experience (UX), Architecture, eCommerce, Instant Messaging, Lean Startups, Local Data Persistence, Networks
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