Senior Software Developer
2013 - 2019Glencoe Software- Supported the migration of a Spring/Hibernate system from PostgreSQL to Oracle.
- Designed and implemented a distributed messaging system to connect various components in a data collection pipeline.
- Created JNI-based bindings for a JPEG-XR decoder written in C.
- Wrote a library to coordinate submission of jobs to a HPC grid facility from a Python/Django web app.
- Implemented a custom Window's URL handler to enable launching local applications against data on a central server from within a browser window.
Technologies: Django, Python, Hibernate, Spring, JavaSenior Architect
2017 - 2018Simple Global, Inc.- Led company-wide planning for a transition from a single monolith to microservice-based architecture.
- Guided decision making around the selection of technology stack, deployment infrastructure, and the continuous delivery pipeline.
- Designed and implemented OpenAPI specification, driven API documentation, and automated testing.
- Assisted with metrics collection and ETL workflow for accounting data.
Technologies: DevOps, Code Architecture, API Architecture, API Design, Spring, JavaSenior Software Engineer
2014 - 2018Hendrick Automotive- Designed and deployed AWS CodeDeploy/CF-based architecture for deploying internal back-office apps.
- Developed APIs to support business analytics.
- Migrated an existing code base from Datomic to PostgreSQL.
- Developed a Clojure-based web application to manage employee performance and goal setting.
- Developed middleware services to connect an array of third-party back-office systems.
Technologies: Ruby on Rails (RoR), AWS, Datomic, ClojureSoftware Engineer — RoR
2014 - 2014Centzy- Extended a CMS-like system to host FAQ content.
- Updated HTML and CSS for various static pages.
- Implemented a dynamically resizing button menu.
- Updated responsive design elements for mobile browsers.
- Fixed a variety of minor bugs in a legacy Rails codebase.
Technologies: Clojure, CSS, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR)Chief Scientist
2011 - 2013Burnside Digital- Developed client infrastructures using various components of Amazon Web Services.
- Worked with teams at RedHat to build solutions on the JVM and JBoss platforms.
- Developed components of an SOA infrastructure that supports a variety of client projects, including the CityEats platform we developed for Scripps Network Interactive.
- Presented technical solutions at software conferences around the world.
- Helped introduce and develop new technologies with our team of 20+ software engineers.
Technologies: Chef, Java, Clojure, Objective-C, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR)Support Engineer
2011 - 2011Exceptional- Fixed bugs reported on the main Exceptional.io app.
- Responded to support requests from Exceptional customers.
- Developed integration between Exceptional and Pivotal Tracker.
- Monitored servers for service interruptions and helped to diagnose, troubleshoot, and fix emerging issues.
- Assisted with transitioning the technology stack to new owners.
Technologies: AWS Push Notification Service (AWS SNS), Amazon SQS, Redis, Memcached, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails (RoR)Back-end Software Engineer
2010 - 2011AOL- Migrated the primary CMS application from Ruby Enterprise Edition to Ruby 1.9.2.
- Optimized database performance and helped maintain consistent page load times across an order of magnitude increase in traffic.
- Scaled the platform from less than 100 locations to over 800 in less than three months.
- Designed a service-oriented architecture overhaul of the entire publishing platform.
- Participated in a company-wide effort to embrace open source and encourage employees from all departments to participate in the open-source community.
Technologies: JavaScript, Redis, MongoDB, MySQL, Ruby on Rails (RoR)Server Software Engineer
2006 - 2010Apple- Developed a Grand Central Dispatch-based web server for MacRuby called ControlTower.
- Upgraded the product for two major Rails revisions and one Ruby version.
- Managed the QA process for the team’s deliverables.
- Implemented a web interface, including a near real-time video preview system built with only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Improved server and database performance from less-than-acceptable to ready-to-release.
Technologies: SANs, Quartz Composer, QuickTime, C, Objective-C, Ruby on Rails (RoR), X Server
Ruby on Rails Developer in Miami, FL, United States
Member since November 22, 2013
Joshua is an architect, engineer, and scientist with experience building large-scale systems dealing with everything from massive amounts of video data to heavy web traffic. He also has experience breaking monoliths into scalable microservice architectures and going the other way 'round. He's worked for Apple and AOL and has also led a group of 50+ consultants as their chief scientist.
Joshua is now available for hire
Portfolio
- Glencoe SoftwareDjango, Python, Hibernate, Spring, Java
- Simple Global, Inc.DevOps, Code Architecture, API Architecture, API Design, Spring, Java
- Hendrick AutomotiveRuby on Rails (RoR), AWS, Datomic, Clojure
Experience
- Ruby 14 years
- Ruby on Rails (RoR) 13 years
- API Design 10 years
- JavaScript 10 years
- Python 9 years
- Architecture 8 years
- Clojure 7 years
- Django 6 years
Availability
Full-time
Preferred Environment
Docker, AWS, Heroku, VS Code, Git, Emacs, Vim Text Editor, Linux, OS X
The most amazing...
...bug I've fixed required taking a system that couldn't even handle two machines and scaling it to over twenty in less than four weeks before shipping a new OS.
Employment
Experience
- CityEats (Development)
CityEats was a platform for customers to make reservations at popular restaurants, and also for restaurants to manage availability and offer special reservations for promotional events. With Burnside Digital, I assisted in maintenance and the development of new features. I also led a team that re-implemented the integration between the customer-facing site and the reservation management back-end utilized by restaurants using a service-oriented architecture.
- ControlTower (Development)https://github.com/MacRuby/ControlTower
ControlTower is an HTTP application server for MacRuby. As a member of the OS X Server team at Apple, I developed ControlTower to meet the needs of a larger project, as there were no existing application servers at the time that worked with MacRuby and met all of the project requirements.
- Evolver (Development)https://github.com/jballanc/Evolver
Evolver is a "toy simulation" of an evolutionary system that I implemented as part of my doctoral thesis research in the field of evolutionary biology. Utilizing Ruby, it allows for all of the important parameters of the simulation to be specified via configuration file, while still running fast enough to complete simulations in a reasonable amount of time.
- Y-Combinator for Objective-C (Development)https://github.com/jballanc/objc-ycomb
In the process of studying both Objective-C and the various fixed-point combinators from the lambda calculus, I conceived of a way to utilize Objective-C's blocks to implement the Y-combinator. This is more of a fun, exploratory project than something intended for production use (though there's no reason it shouldn't work in a production system).
- Learning Swift Programming: Is it Ready for Prime Time? (Publication)Since Apple's launch of Swift this past June, many iOS developers have been struggling with the question of if, how, and when to transition from Objective-C to Swift. This article explores some important points to consider before jumping into Swift development.
Skills
Languages
Python, Ruby, C, Julia, Java, Objective-C, Clojure, CSS, JavaScript, Lua, C++Frameworks
Sinatra, RubyMotion, Cocoa, WebObjects, Padrino, Ruby on Rails (RoR), UIkit, Spring, Hibernate, Django, AngularJSLibraries/APIs
Node.js, React, Compojure, Rack, jQuery, Nokogiri, Twitter APITools
Vim Text Editor, Jira, GitHub, GitHub Pages, Bitbucket, Emacs, TextMate, GitLab, Chef, Amazon SQS, AWS Push Notification Service (AWS SNS), Quartz Composer, Xcode, Git, Mercurial, VS Code, ReagentParadigms
Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Agile Software Development, Functional Programming, Kanban, Scrum, Distributed Programming, API Architecture, DevOps, Logic ProgrammingPlatforms
Android, MacOS, iOS, Linux, FreeBSD, OS X, Heroku, Docker, JBossStorage
SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Memcached, MongoDBOther
API Design, Architecture, API Integration, Software Development, Merb, X Server, QuickTime, SANs, AWS, Code Architecture, Datomic
Education
- Doctorate in Computational Evolutionary Biology2008 - 2011Stevens Institute of Technology - New Jersey
- Master's degree in Chemical Biology2005 - 2008Stevens Institute of Techonolgy - New Jersey
- Bachelor's degree in Chemistry1998 - 2002Stevens Institute of Technology - New Jersey
