Chris is available for hire
Hire ChrisChris Sun
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Location
Atherton, United States
Toptal Member Since
March 31, 2017
Chris has more than 14 years of experience developing web and server applications. He has worked at Yahoo for 3.5 years and worked at startups, including his own. During his career, he has written multiple apps including ones for Facebook that at one point had 20 million users. His current focus is Ruby on Rails.
Portfolio
GuideSpark Inc.
JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby
TenderTree
Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby
PagerDuty
JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby
Experience
Availability
Part-time
Preferred Environment
Vim Text Editor, Linux, MacOS
The most amazing...
...thing I've coded was a Facebook application that reached more than 20 million users. It was a virtual gifting app where users could share images with friends.
Work Experience
Senior Software Engineer
2014 - 2016
GuideSpark Inc.
- Worked as the lead engineer for a web-based tool to edit videos where one could crop video and add images, audio, HTML overlays, quizzes, pauses, chapters (for seeking), and transcripts. Tool has been used to create thousands of videos produced by GuideSpark. Implemented with AngularJS, Bootstrap, and Rails on the back-end.
- Automated video creation using Adobe After Effects and ExtendScript (JavaScript). Video colors, text, audio, and graphics could be programmatically changed. I also worked on the Ruby on Rails website which provided an interface for customizing videos.
- Added features and fixed bugs for the primary Ruby on Rails website which hosted customer videos.
- Shared best practices with team members through tech talks, code reviews, and improved the continuous integration server.
- Worked on an API to help render custom videos. Implemented with AWS Lambda and Python.
Technologies: JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby
Software Engineer
2013 - 2013
TenderTree
- Created a tool for sending SMS messages to care takers (people looking for work). The user is able to view messages in threaded format.
- Added the ability to pay care takers via ACH using the Balanced API.
- Updated the website with new forms and CSS.
Technologies: Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby
Software Engineer
2012 - 2012
PagerDuty
- Worked on an internal billing and invoicing system. Created tools to audit billing and help external auditors with reports.
- Added features and fixed bugs in a custom admin panel.
- Learned the basics of Backbone.js.
Technologies: JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby
Co-Founder
2007 - 2011
Orcata Inc.
- Wrote Facebook applications that reached 30+ million users.
- Learned key metrics for user acquisition and engagement.
- Learned how to scale a web app by using caching, MySQL slaves, and database sharing.
Technologies: MySQL, PHP
Software Engineer
2004 - 2007
Yahoo Inc.
- Worked on ad servers which determined the display ads to show on all Yahoo-owned properties.
- Updated the algorithms for the geographic targeting of ads.
- Worked on a project for dynamically generated travel ads.
- Contributed changes to beacons for ad-tracking.
Technologies: C++
Quality Assurance Engineer
1999 - 2002
Inktomi Corporation
- Wrote programs to test a high-performance caching server.
- Wrote test plans, executed them, and documented results. Tried to automate the tests as much as possible.
Technologies: C++, Shell, Perl
Experience
GigHire
A demo website that simulates hiring people for short term work. This site shows authentication (including Facebook login), has the ability to create/view/edit gigs, the ability to rate gigs, and a Stripe checkout.
Kelp
Kelp is a demo application where users can read and write restaurant reviews. It includes user authentication, Google Maps integration, and star ratings.
Coral Beach Hotel
A demo app showing a realistic website for a hotel. A friendly, welcoming user interface with a nice layout and content pages.
Skills
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails (RoR)
Tools
Vim Text Editor, Shell
Languages
Ruby, PHP, C++, Perl, JavaScript
Libraries/APIs
React Redux, React
Platforms
MacOS, Linux
Storage
MySQL
Education
2003 - 2005
Master's Degree in Computer Science
New York University - New York, NY, USA
1995 - 1999
Bachelor of Arts in Economics
University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley, CA, USA
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