Chris Cauley, Front-end Developer in Philadelphia, PA, United States
Chris Cauley

Front-end Developer in Philadelphia, PA, United States

Member since June 16, 2021
Chris is a full-stack developer with more than ten years of experience. He specializes in building scalable web applications with Django, React, and Vue, with an emphasis on rapid prototyping, multi-tenancy, and complex user roles. He has worked in a wide variety of industries, including medical devices, real estate, online media, shipping, education, and non-profit. In his spare time, he writes board games and other side projects to keep his programming skills sharp.
Chris is now available for hire

Portfolio

  • Proscia
    Vue, OpenSeadragon, Tailwind CSS, Node.js, Express.js, Front-end...
  • Underdog.io companies
    Python, React, Docker Compose, Responsive Web Design (RWD), APIs...
  • Promptworks
    Python, React, Flask, Django, Redux, Ruby, HubSpot, PayPal, Authorize.net...

Experience

  • Django 10 years
  • Emacs 10 years
  • Git 10 years
  • Python 10 years
  • React 3 years
  • Vue 2 years
  • WebSockets 1 year
  • OpenSeadragon 1 year

Location

Philadelphia, PA, United States

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Ubuntu, Emacs, Git, Bash

The most amazing...

...thing I've developed is a makerspace website which coordinated students, instructors, volunteers, classes, and facility and tool access.

Employment

  • Lead Front-end Developer

    2020 - PRESENT
    Proscia
    • Rewrote Proscia's digital pathology platform from scratch using Vue 3 and OpenSeadragon.
    • Tracked and fixed bugs in Jira and documented the product design in Matrix Requirements.
    • Wrote integration, unit, and visual regression tests.
    Technologies: Vue, OpenSeadragon, Tailwind CSS, Node.js, Express.js, Front-end, API Integration, APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), MongoDB, HTML, Full-stack, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Tech Lead

    2019 - 2020
    Underdog.io companies
    • Optimized and maintained email relay service, an email forwarding service for anonymous communication between the candidate and company.
    • Created a dashboard for viewing messages between candidates and companies, which was synchronized with the user's email inbox.
    • Unified Node.js and Python build processes for eight microservices and upgraded service from Python 2 to Python 3 and Node.js 6 to Node.js 12.
    Technologies: Python, React, Docker Compose, Responsive Web Design (RWD), APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), DigitalOcean, HTML, Full-stack, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Flask
  • Software Developer

    2018 - 2019
    Promptworks
    • Developed web applications using Django, React, Postgres, and Heroku.
    • Integrated with a wide variety of third-party services, including Paypal, Stripe, Hubspot, Zendesk, Nest, Alexa, and Xapian.
    • Worked closely with clients from discovery to shipment to ensure satisfaction.
    Technologies: Python, React, Flask, Django, Redux, Ruby, HubSpot, PayPal, Authorize.net, User Flows, User Permissions, User Roles, Responsive Web Design (RWD), APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), MongoDB, DigitalOcean, HTML, Full-stack
  • Full-stack Developer

    2012 - 2017
    Self-employed (Contractor)
    • Served as a sole developer and designer for the web app and digital infrastructure of a large makerspace. The web portal was used for class scheduling, building access, machine permissions, and membership options. Used Django, Riot.js, and Postgres.
    • Did a major redesign and rebuild of thegamesupply.net, a website for buying and selling digital goods (MMO accounts). Most notably, I integrated several APIs to automate product building.
    • Worked one on one with both technical and non-technical clients.
    Technologies: JavaScript, Django, Python, NGINX, PostgreSQL, Bootstrap, Docker Compose, Responsive Web Design (RWD), APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), MongoDB, DigitalOcean, HTML, Full-stack, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Full-stack Developer

    2010 - 2012
    Six Foot
    • Created the Go back end for an online RTS game as well as the Django web app used for user profiles and social interaction.
    • Created an educational video game using HTML Canvas.
    • Built websites for local companies using Linux, PostgreSQL, Django, JavaScript, and many other technologies.
    Technologies: JavaScript, Canvas, Django, Go, PHP, CoffeeScript, Responsive Web Design (RWD), APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), HTML, Full-stack

Experience

  • Hive Game
    http://hive.unrest.io

    An online version of the board game hive written in JavaScript. Multiplayer is implemented using WebSockets and a Python webserver. The game includes all the classic pieces from the board game hive and custom fan-created pieces, many of which are my own creation.

    The app is designed to function in both online and offline modes. It uses WebSockets for multiplayer and chat functionality. I am currently working on adding a replay system.

  • TXRX Labs Web Portal
    https://apps.txrxlabs.org/classes/

    A web app for coordinating students, teachers, makers, and volunteers at one of the world's largest makerspaces. The application also has a permissions API and an RFID system to ensure that members and visitors cannot operate equipment, use supplies, or access the building without proper authorization.

    During my tenure at TXRX Labs, I volunteered as the vice president and taught several dozen classes in rapid prototyping, 3D printing, CNC manufacturing, Python, JavaScript, and more. The makerspace grew from a few dozen people in a 4,000 square foot space to a 40,0000-square-foot multi-building teaching 3,000+ students yearly. The web portal I made helped ease the administrative burden of coordinating the various roles in the organization. I am confident that the lab could not have undergone 10x growth in two years without the web portal and associated infrastructure.

  • Proscia's Online Slide Viewer
    https://proscia.com/concentriq-platform/

    Proscia's digital pathology platform is used to explore, annotate, and analyze whole slide images for clinical and research pathology. I was the sole front-end programmer for the refactor and redesign of Proscia's digital pathology platform. I rewrote the entire front end from scratch, eliminating five years of tech debt and reducing the repository size threefold.

    Because the API team was simultaneously rewriting the back end for the app, I wrote the application to function in standalone mode. The API connection could be disabled via the feature flag. This meant the front end could function independently from the API, storing all information in RAM only. Developing with both online and offline capabilities reduced the overhead of not having to run the full stack during development which allowed for faster development, easier debugging, and an overall more stable product.

    During this process, I upgraded the platform to Vue 3, standardized the data store, and built a custom component library. I also built functional, snapshot, unit, and integration tests for the application and created a detailed list of user stories and acceptance criteria to make future development more stable.

  • Nico Web App

    MyNico sought to disrupt the rental industry by offering tenants partial ownership in the investment company's portfolio. Because the goal was to disrupt the tenant-landlord relationship, this project underwent many revisions and stages of rapid prototyping, adding and removing features on the fly. There were also legal constraints because the app combined both investment and commercial services, necessitating multiple checkout systems in order to comply with regulations. I worked very closely with the company to refine their business model and quickly explore what solutions fit their particular needs.

    As the primary developer, I had to make many feature flags that would work in any combination. The app had to work with multiple CRMs, payment processors, and other third-party APIs. This meant that our database was not the source of truth for most of the data on the site, and most data was cached or fetched on the fly.

Skills

  • Languages

    Python, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Bash, Go, PHP, CoffeeScript, Sass, Ruby
  • Frameworks

    Django, Flask, Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, Redux, NestJS, Express.js
  • Libraries/APIs

    Vue, React, Node.js, Riot.js, Stripe API, Authorize.net
  • Tools

    Git, Emacs, OpenSeadragon, MATLAB, NGINX, Canvas, Docker Compose
  • Paradigms

    Responsive Web Design (RWD), Object-oriented Programming (OOP)
  • Other

    APIs, Full-stack, 3D Printing, Philosophy, Payment APIs, Analytical Chemistry, WebSockets, Medical Software, Recruitment, CNC, PayPal, HubSpot, User Flows, RFID, OpenSCAD, Digital Payments, User Roles, User Permissions, Hardware Integration, Front-end, API Integration
  • Platforms

    DigitalOcean, Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi, Django CMS, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Industry Expertise

    Teaching
  • Storage

    MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis

Education

  • Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry
    2001 - 2006
    University Of Utah - Salt Lake City, UT

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