
Andrew Dobson
Verified Expert in Engineering
Back-end Developer
Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom
Toptal member since February 5, 2022
Andrew is an experienced full-stack developer experienced in Java, PHP, Node.js, and React Native. He has built scalable, performant, and secure apps using Java and is skilled in server-side scripting and database integration using PHP. He also used Node.js to create high-performance real-time apps and developed responsive mobile applications using React Native. Andrew is a passionate problem solver and a real team player.
Portfolio
Experience
- Apache Tomcat - 10 years
- REST - 10 years
- Java - 10 years
- JUnit - 10 years
- Spring - 4 years
- React - 3 years
- React Native - 2 years
- Node.js - 2 years
Availability
Preferred Environment
MacOS, Eclipse, Slack
The most amazing...
...thing I have contributed to was achieving the goal of processing an extremely large amount of sports feed data in a record amount of time in a performant way.
Work Experience
Freelance Mobile App Developer
AJ Development
- Developed a leading fitness application for iOS and Android in React Native, which involved creating a Node.js server to talk to Shopify to expose many endpoints for use within the app.
- Developed a React application to take payments from users using Stripe and verified the payment with a Java back-end to confirm the payments' validity.
- Provided maintenance and added new functionality to an iOS application written in Objective-C for a leading provider of examination papers in the UK.
- Worked on both the front and back ends for a food delivery mobile application. The front end was written in React Native, and the back end was written in Laravel.
- Cooperated with a client to specify, estimate, and build a dating application. This involved taking the client's requirements, turning them into a detailed specification, breaking them down into actionable tasks, and estimating them.
[FT/PT] Cross-plaftorm Developer, Flutter or React Native | Evaluation Card-based Application
International Baccalaureate Organization
- Developed an interactive card-based game using React that allowed students to pick cards and build up a motif, which could then be exported and printed.
- Liaised with the client to deploy test versions, manage feedback and outstanding issues, and make the relevant changes.
- Ensured the application was translatable into three different languages.
Senior Java Developer
FDJ Gaming Solutions
- Worked as a back-end engineer to develop an extremely performant Java application that took a large number of bets from players in a short time span. This involved complex algorithms to process the bets and calculate potential returns.
- Ensured the API evolution was controlled by securing that any changes to the API were well thought out and followed industry and internal standards.
- Overhauled how the company receives feed information, from taking a single feed in a strict format to multiple feeds in various formats. Ensured performance targets were maintained.
- Implemented and rolled out our product to new North American clients with the quickest launch and most significant release in recent years. Defined key requirements and efficiently delivered the product on time.
Development Team Leader
Capita IB Solutions
- Acted as the main point of contact for multiple projects, oversaw the team's resources, worked closely with clients to provide day-to-day support, scheduled bug fix releases, scoped new functionalities, and ensured deadlines were met.
- Created bespoke web applications using Java within a Tomcat environment and played a key role in all stages of the development lifecycle—from initial analysis with clients to design the proposed solution, development, and testing.
- Designed and developed a new web-based system to keep track of people attending training courses and added additional functionality to the existing expense management system used by NHS.
Experience
Fitness and Nutrition App in React Native
Owe—iOS Debt Tracker and Planner
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/owe-debt-tracker-planner/id674210560?ls=1Since it was a part-time project on the side, I developed the entire application, including all of the graphics assets. The app includes functionality to track recurring monthly and weekly payments, which is achieved using a local SQLite database on the device.
Music Roulette
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/music-roulette-music-guessing/id1086459730?ls=1I developed an iOS application written in Swift and used Firebase to store all the data and authenticate the users. The app uses Spotify SDK to allow users to search for songs and play the playlist.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
University of Hertfordshire - Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Liquibase, Firebase iOS SDK, Spotify API, React, Stripe, Stripe API, Node.js
Tools
Apache Tomcat, Git, Slack, ELK (Elastic Stack), Jira, Xcode, Kafka Streams, JConsole, Figma
Languages
Java, Objective-C, PHP, Swift, GraphQL, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5
Frameworks
Spring, JUnit, React Native, Swagger, Hibernate, Jersey, Unity, Flutter, Laravel
Paradigms
REST, Unit Testing, Agile
Platforms
Eclipse, Oracle, Apache Kafka, MacOS, Docker, Firebase, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Shopify
Storage
JSON, PostgreSQL, PSQL
Other
Web Services, APIs, Concurrency, Multithreading, Pull Requests, Web Applications, Team Leadership, Back-end Performance
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