Alex Long, Developer in Washington, DC, United States
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Alex Long

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Front-end Developer

Location
Washington, DC, United States
Toptal Member Since
October 27, 2015

Alex is a full-stack developer with over seven years of experience building React apps, back ends, DevOps pipelines, web scrapers, and machine learning prototypes for startups and large corporations. He has worked with over five different startups in varying stages of growth, from greenfield to already funded. Due to the small team sizes of these companies, Alex has become a well-rounded full-stack engineer with experience developing on both the front and back end.

Portfolio

Landerz
React, Node.js, TypeScript, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon Aurora...
Sophos
Matplotlib, Plotly.js, React, Data Integration, Dashboards, Visualization...
Zugata
Docker, React, TypeScript, Front-end, Continuous Deployment, Google Analytics...

Experience

Availability

Full-time

Preferred Environment

Vim Text Editor, Git, MacOS, Visual Studio, Zapier

The most amazing...

...thing I've built is a language-agnostic synonym detection algorithm using cosine similarities of context vectors to mathematically express semantic similarity.

Work Experience

Lead Developer

2020 - 2021
Landerz
  • Spearheaded the development of a large-scale cloud-based web scraping ETL pipeline for dynamically collecting real estate data from various sources and preparing it for analysis. Developed React applications for internal data analysis.
  • Conducted machine learning research using computer vision techniques, particularly Keras and Google Colab, resulting in prospect identification from Google Street View images.
  • Leveraged a robust tech stack encompassing React, TypeScript, Puppeteer, Plotly.js, Retool, AWS (EC2, RDS, S3, API Gateway, Lambda), and Heroku to optimize application performance and scalability.
Technologies: React, Node.js, TypeScript, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon Aurora, Express.js, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Amazon EC2, Full-stack, Front-end, Continuous Deployment, MySQL, API Integration, Notion, Figma, Data Scraping, APIs, Artificial Intelligence (AI), OpenAI GPT-4 API, ChatGPT, Puppeteer, FFmpeg, GraphQL, Next.js, Tailwind CSS

Senior Software Engineer

2016 - 2020
Sophos
  • Led end-to-end development of global AI model deployment pipeline to 10,000+ customer endpoints. Developed automated testing and CI/CD pipelines for the team's TensorFlow models.
  • Hosted and produced a company AI podcast (https://soundcloud.com/sophosai) and presented our work at AI Village 2018 (youtube.com/watch?v=eNpHytykSuw), showcasing the team's thought leadership.
  • Developed a React dashboard for company C-suite executives and scientists that ingested large-scale malware data and presented it using highly configurable visualizations built using Plotly.js.
Technologies: Matplotlib, Plotly.js, React, Data Integration, Dashboards, Visualization, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Python, Docker, Jenkins, Full-stack, Front-end, Continuous Deployment, MySQL, Facebook Ads, API Integration, Flask, APIs, Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Web Developer

2016 - 2016
Zugata
  • Implemented new features in an existing React app, including a calendar widget for selecting a date range while showing days that were already reserved.
  • Quickly onboarded with existing codebase and team to perform urgent mission-critical bug fixes and development of new features.
  • Improved cross-platform compatibility by testing and performing bug fixes for Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and mobile Chrome.
  • Contributed to design and ideation discussions by suggesting new ideas and helping to critique new features.
Technologies: Docker, React, TypeScript, Front-end, Continuous Deployment, Google Analytics, Figma, APIs

Cross-browser Extension Developer

2015 - 2016
UCapture
  • Developed a cross-browser extension using React which performed multiple functions including adding overlays to certain pages and displaying user account information in the browser action window.
  • Worked directly with the company founder to help set technical vision and goals.
  • Responded quickly to customer-impacting issues to ensure a 99% uptime user experience.
Technologies: Kango Cross-Browser Extension Framework, Gulp, React, JavaScript, Data Scraping, APIs

Research Engineer

2012 - 2015
Invincea Labs
  • Supported several research projects in machine learning, natural language processing, Android security, and full-stack development.
  • Provided rapid development and deployment of Android app prototypes, pen-testing, and reverse engineering of third-party apps.
  • Published and presented visualization work at IEEE VIZ 2014 in Paris, France, and this year at two notable security conferences: MTEM and Black Hat.
  • Used a combination of several technologies for web and back-end work, including AngularJS and Python, to prototype a system for malware analysis and visualization.
Technologies: CSS, Sass, Vim Text Editor, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, HTML, D3.js, AngularJS, Python, Android, API Integration, Data Scraping, Flask, APIs, Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Android App Developer

2012 - 2014
Independent
  • Developed and released three Android apps (“Studio Assistant,” “Airplane Mode Reminder,” and "Pashword") all currently available on the Google Play app store.
Technologies: Vim Text Editor, Android Studio, Java, Android

Intern Android Developer

2012 - 2012
Science Application International Corporation
  • Integrated a Bluetooth biometric reader into an Android app that involved learning the reader's custom protocol and adapting it to Android. Built a .NET back-end web service using C# for matching fingerprint, face, iris and voice samples.
  • Integrated an NFC scanner device into an Android app. This involved analyzing low-level radio signals emitted from the device and creating an interface to interpret and handle those signals in the Android app.
  • Independently integrated new technologies and resolved critical memory leaks.
  • Worked with lead engineers and upper management in product development and marketing strategies.
Technologies: Web Services, .NET, C#, Java, Android, API Integration

Malware Analysis Tool and Visualization System

I worked in a team of four developers building a prototypical system where individuals could submit malware to be automatically analyzed and visualized. The visualizations allowed individuals to explore the "social network" of a malware sample by seeing other ingested samples with similar properties, as well as providing an at-a-glance view of the malware's capabilities.

Due to the small team size, all members, including myself, worked on a variety of different areas of the system. Some of my larger roles included building new visualizations using D3 and Sigma JS, developing an interface for uploading and ingesting new samples, and implementing crucial back-end functionality for handling communication between system components. Technologies and languages used in my work include Tornado web server, ZeroMQ, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Python, AngularJS, JavaScript, and LESS.

Languages

CSS, JavaScript, Python, PHP, GraphQL, Sass, C#, ECMAScript (ES6), Java, Less, RDF, HTML, TypeScript

Frameworks

AngularJS, Flask, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, .NET, Kango Cross-Browser Extension Framework, Express.js

Libraries/APIs

React, D3.js, ZeroMQ, Plotly.js, Matplotlib, ArcGIS, Flask-RESTful, JavaScript API for Chrome, Node.js, Puppeteer, FFmpeg

Tools

Notion, Zapier, Figma, Android Studio, Bower, Git, Vim Text Editor, Gulp, Jenkins, Visual Studio, Google Analytics

Platforms

Android, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MacOS, Linux, Docker, Amazon EC2

Other

Full-stack, Front-end, Visualization, API Integration, Data Scraping, APIs, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Hardware Integration, OpenAI GPT-4 API, ChatGPT, Web Services, Dashboards, Chrome Extensions, Tornado, IIS, Information Technology, Software Project Management, Facebook Ads

Paradigms

Continuous Deployment, REST, Agile Software Development, Test-driven Development (TDD)

Storage

MySQL, Data Integration, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Amazon Aurora, Amazon S3 (AWS S3)

2008 - 2012

Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology

George Mason University - Virginia

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