Kevin is available for hire

Kevin Bloch

Verified Expert in Engineering

JavaScript Developer

Bergerac, France

Toptal member since January 31, 2017

Bio

Kevin specializes in PostgreSQL, JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js, Perl, and Haxe, among many other technologies he's explored and used professionally. Primarily a back-end developer, he's also been a lead desktop and full-stack developer, and enjoys project management, back-end technologies, and game development. With more than 20 years of remote work experience, Kevin excels both independently and as part of a team. Notably, he is a Pluralsight author and ranks in the top 2% on Stack Overflow.

Portfolio

Toptal

Google Docs, Google Sheets, Jira, Asana, Slack, Zapier, Technical Writing...

An American Coaching Platform

Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, PostgreSQL, SvelteKit, Svelte, Loom, GitHub...

An American Analytics Consulting Firm

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Node.js, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Python, REST APIs...

Experience

Proofreading - 20 years
JavaScript - 20 years
SQL - 15 years
Regex - 15 years
Perl - 15 years
PostgreSQL - 14 years
Git - 7 years
HaXe - 1 year

Work Experience

Contractor

2023 - PRESENT

Toptal

Wrote, reviewed, edited, and SEO-ed technical articles and hiring resources. Wrote and provided technical input on other content.
Maintained technical dialogue on Jira about platform improvements affecting publishing goals.
Oversaw and maintained team process automation in Asana and Zapier.
Migrated a demo back end to Netlify Functions (serverless) due to the host service sunsetting.

Technologies: Google Docs, Google Sheets, Jira, Asana, Slack, Zapier, Technical Writing, Writing & Editing, Content Writing, Proofreading, SEO Tools, TypeScript, JavaScript, Ospec, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Mocha, Chai, REST APIs, Express.js, Node.js, Git, GitHub, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Scripting, Google Workspace, AI Tools, Process Automation, Web, Coding, Programming, Netlify, Serverless, Manual Testing, Debugging, Objects, Large Language Models (LLMs), ChatGPT, Bug Fixes, Workflows

Senior Full-stack Developer

2025 - 2026

An American Coaching Platform

Helped an in-progress migration from Node.js to Bun, fixing hundreds of TypeScript errors.
Converted several legacy controllers to full domain-driven design.
Investigated build output, fixing warnings and errors, and suppressing verbose info, making output much easier to reason about by reducing its length 100-fold.
Debugged setup scripts, improved their documentation, and helped get the migration finished and deployed to Google Cloud.
Added Redis-based analytics report for route traffic and errors.
Created a greenfield Streamlit (Python) codebase for support ticket management backed by NocoDB, which then became the basis for migrating internal apps away from Appsmith.
Optimized GitHub Actions steps, reducing deployment times by an average of 43% week-over-week.
Optimized logging setup across the Bun back end, cutting 600 lines of code while consolidating log entries and adding debugging context.
Re-optimized GitHub Actions steps and parallelized the Bun test suite, further reducing deployment times by 30% (while also adding more CI checks), reducing local test suite running time by 62%, and cutting another 3,000 lines of code.

Technologies: Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, PostgreSQL, SvelteKit, Svelte, Loom, GitHub, GitHub CLI, GitHub Actions, Bun, Prisma, Bash, Bash Script, Docker, YAML, CI/CD Pipelines, Docker Compose, TypeScript 5, TypeScript 7, HubSpot, HubSpot API, HubSpot CRM, Dialers, BullMQ, Fastify, Vite, JSON, Zod, Zod Schema, Domain-driven Design (DDD), Vertical Slice Architecture, Zoom, Google Drive, Google Drive API, Claude Code, Codex, Appsmith, Cloudflare, Google Cloud API, Google Cloud, Slack, Slack API, Slack App, Vercel, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Jujutsu (jj), Python 3, Python, Python API, Streamlit, Starlette, Uvicorn, Pydantic, SQLAlchemy, Python Asyncio, Asyncio, Pandas, Jinja, OpenTelemetry, Pytest, Playwright, Code Coverage, E2E Testing, Unit Testing, Integration Testing, Staging, Lint, Linting, SigNoz, NocoDB, Model Context Protocol (MCP), OpenCode, Tmux, Tailscale, Regex, Stripe, Stripe API, Cloud, Cloud Infrastructure, Kamal, Redis, Agentic AI, Agentic Coding, WebSockets, Architecture, Large Language Models (LLMs), Technical Leadership, Integration, Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, CRM APIs, Claude, API Design, Orchestration, AI Agents, AI Engineering, OAuth, ChatGPT, AI-assisted Development, Workflow Automation, Back-end Development, Full-stack Development, Software Development, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Database Migration, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Best Practices, Incident Response, Pipelines, Anthropic, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Legacy Code, Responsive UI, Payments, Client Communication, Client Management, Bug Fixes, Monorepos, Testing, Prompt Engineering, OpenAI, Workflows, API Key

Senior Full-stack Developer

2025 - 2025

An American Analytics Consulting Firm

Fixed bugs like CORS issues, copypasta leftovers causing Pydantic warnings, broken Alembic migrations, and default admin user permissions to get Docker services running locally, then added quick-start documentation.
Compared overlapping fresh-local databases with each other to get a sense for intent, given unfinished and undocumented features and architecture, and compared with live AWS deployment to know what was deployed without being synced to GitHub.
Reviewed codebases, databases, Figma designs, Slack channels, Trello boards, etc., to add time estimates to backlog.
Checked codebase against the current debug/chalk/etc. npm package vulnerability outbreak.
Enabled OpenAPI JSON output and wrote ad-hoc JavaScript to analyze and compare overlapping APIs and determine the extent of documentation regarding expected response structures.

Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Node.js, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Python, REST APIs, Amazon Linux, Alembic, SQLAlchemy, Pydantic, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, GitHub, Docker, Docker Compose, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), JavaScript, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Web Scraping, Amazon EC2, Prefect, OpenAPI, CORS, Objects, Integrations, System Integration, Technical Leadership, Enterprise Architecture, CRM, Architecture, Integration, Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, API Design, Back-end Development, Software Development, Best Practices, Legacy Code, Client Communication, Client Management, Bug Fixes, Testing

Contractor (Expert and Author)

2024 - 2025

Pluralsight

Authored hands-on code labs (including tutorial text, learner solutions, and automated tests) on JavaScript, MongoDB, Vitest, the Web API (including Canvas, SVG, events, service workers, and animations), VS Code debugging, and algorithms.
Developed robust tests for each code lab (both for the user and for my official task solutions) using Mithril's Ospec testing library. Used a combination of hand-written spies, JSDOM mocks, and regular expressions.
Created a supporting JavaScript module to make one lab's tasks more interactive and the final solution versions of each task's user code.
Wrote bash scripts to streamline my local testing, build, and text aggregation processes, and supported JavaScript code for automatically generating regular expressions and test set up functions based on finalized solution code.
Crafted questions and answers at various skill levels for a Data Science with Python skill assessment package.
Reviewed and corrected (technically and grammatically) the questions and answers authored by other experts for a MongoDB skill assessment package.

Technologies: JavaScript, ECMAScript (ES6), ES5, ES7, ES8, JavaScript 5, JavaScript 6, Vanilla JS, Node.js, Ospec, Mithril.js, Regex, Bash, Bash Script, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Unit Testing, Test-driven Development (TDD), Markdown, Automation, Proofreading, User Experience (UX), Technical Writing, Content Writing, Writing & Editing, Python, Python 3, Scikit-learn, Google Colaboratory (Colab), NumPy, Data Science, Data Scientist, Git, QA Automation, Algorithms, Search, Sorting Algorithms, Data Sorting, Pseudocode, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Scripting, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Learning Management Systems (LMS), Process Automation, Web, Data Structures, Document Processing, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, MongoDB, MongoDB Shell, MongoDB Compass, NoSQL, Vitest, User Documentation, Communication, Test Automation, SVG, Canvas, Canvas 2D, HTML5 Canvas, HTML5 APIs, HTML5, Mobile HTML5, Web API, Events, Async/Await, Debugging, Animation, 2D Animation, SVG Animation, Optimization, Chrome DevTools, 2D, JSDOM, Manual Testing, Regression Testing, Automated Testing, Service Workers, Offline-first Development, Objects, Pure CSS, Workflow Automation, Software Development, Best Practices, Bug Fixes, Testing, Workflows

Managing Editor

2022 - 2023

Toptal

Oversaw editorial process, providing content review along editorial, technical, and stylistic lines.
Reported, tracked, and advocated for issues affecting team processes using Jira.
Managed publishing process, responding to changes in requirements and improving efficiency while maintaining world-class quality standards.

Technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, Asana, Slack, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Apps Script, Jira, Confluence, Git, GitHub, Technical Writing, Documentation, SEO Tools, Project Management, Low Code, CSV File Processing, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Scripting, Google Workspace, Workflow, Code Review, AI Tools, Technical Leadership, Leadership, Process Automation, Web, Coding, Programming, Atlassian, User Documentation, Communication, Debugging, Objects, Pure CSS, Proofreading, Best Practices, Email Integration, Bug Fixes, Workflows, Reporting

Lead Editor, Engineering Blog (Publications Team)

2021 - 2022

Toptal

Reviewed, wrote, formatted, edited, and published technical articles and other site content.
Created and reviewed strategic directions and helped with the editor hiring process.
Trained non-technical editors and devised new processes to outsource technical reviews to facilitate their contributions.
Applied SEO research to blog articles and overall team direction.
Created and maintained team procedure and process documentation.

Technologies: HubSpot, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Apps Script, JavaScript, Slack, Trello, Asana, kramdown, Git, GitHub, Confluence, Jira, MathJax, JSON, Technical Writing, Documentation, SEO Tools, Project Management, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, Low Code, CSS, CSV File Processing, Relational Databases, API Integration, SVG, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Scripting, Mobile, Express.js, Google Workspace, REST, Workflow, Code Review, RESTFul APIs, Technical Leadership, Data Engineering, Code Refactoring, Social Media, Leadership, Process Automation, Gmail API, Web, Email Automation, Document Processing, Google Sheets API, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Manual QA, Atlassian, User Documentation, Communication, Manual Testing, Debugging, Pull Requests, Objects, Pure CSS, Proofreading, Integrations, Workflow Automation, Best Practices, Email Integration, Bug Fixes, Testing, Workflows, Reporting

Senior Editor

2019 - 2021

Toptal

Wrote, formatted, edited, and published blog articles, anonymous guides, and other site content according to SEO and team strategies.
Created, proofread, and sent newsletters. Debugged newsletter templates and processes.
Brainstormed and coordinated with the design team for illustrations.
Reviewed, debugged, and otherwise improved example code used in articles.
Maintained user script code to facilitate daily editorial tasks.
Created a prototype pipeline management system to streamline common publishing operations and reduce inconsistencies in the publications team output.

Technologies: HubSpot, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Slack, Trello, JavaScript, Google Apps Script, JSON, Technical Writing, Documentation, SEO Tools, APIs, Project Management, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, Node.js, Pug, CSS3, HTML5, kramdown, MathJax, Airtable, Low Code, Postman, API Testing, User Interface (UI), CSS, Relational Databases, SVG, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Scripting, MongoDB, GitLab, Google Workspace, Design, HTTP, Code Review, GraphQL, RESTFul APIs, Technical Leadership, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Code Refactoring, Social Media, Leadership, Process Automation, Gmail API, Web, Email Automation, Document Processing, Google Sheets API, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Manual QA, Release Management, Atlassian, User Documentation, Communication, Manual Testing, Regression Testing, Automated Testing, Debugging, Pull Requests, Objects, Pure CSS, Proofreading, Integrations, Workflow Automation, Software Development, Best Practices, Email Integration, Bug Fixes, Testing, Workflows

Editor

2017 - 2019

Toptal

Reviewed, wrote, formatted, edited, and published technical articles and other site content.
Created, proofread, and sent newsletters. Debugged newsletter templates and processes.
Brainstormed and coordinated with the design team for illustrations.
Reviewed, debugged, and otherwise improved example code used in articles.
Maintained user script code to facilitate daily editorial tasks.

Technologies: HubSpot, Trello, Google Docs, Google Sheets, JavaScript, Technical Writing, Documentation, SEO Tools, APIs, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, Postman, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Scripting, Google Workspace, Design, Code Review, Code Refactoring, Social Media, Process Automation, Web, Email Automation, Document Processing, Google Sheets API, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Manual QA, Release Management, Atlassian, User Documentation, Communication, Manual Testing, Automated Testing, Debugging, Objects, Pure CSS, Proofreading, Workflow Automation, Best Practices, Email Integration, Bug Fixes, Testing, Workflows

Senior Back-end Developer (Node.js)

2017 - 2018

Mllnnl

Maintained, extended, and scaled the back end and database.
Managed DevOps processes, including being co-responsible and later solely responsible for versioning and deployment.
Conducted code reviews of front- and back-end code as well as PostgreSQL stored procedures and views.
Coordinated with front-end developers on back-end API changes.
Implemented the back-end test suite to avoid regressions.
Integrated with the IBM Watson API to language-bucket and helped interpret social media content.
Added heatmap calendar API endpoint; supporting database, fetch, calculation, and caching infrastructure; and corresponding database and back-end unit tests.
Fixed GIS (PostGIS) indexing and searching issues.

Technologies: pgAdmin, REST APIs, PL/pgSQL, SQL, Back-end, Flyway, Docker, Bash, Amazon EC2, OpenShift, Apiary API, PostGIS, Chai, Mocha, JavaScript, ReactiveX, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Node.js, JSON, Agile Software Development, Angular, Instagram API, DevOps, Swagger, RabbitMQ, Documentation, Technical Documentation, Software, User Experience (UX), Web Development, Amazon Web Services (AWS), APIs, Architecture, Project Management, Back-end Development, Git, Quality Assurance (QA), API Testing, Databases, Data Pipelines, CRUD, Relational Databases, API Integration, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Software Architecture, Database Management, Data, Design, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Data Integration, API Development, HTTP, REST, Code Review, Web Scraping, Data Scraping, Website Data Scraping, RESTFul APIs, Technical Leadership, Auth0, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Cloud Infrastructure, Amazon RDS, Data Modeling, Infrastructure, Code Refactoring, Web Applications, Social Media, Scalability, Leadership, Process Automation, Browser Automation, Data Architecture, Web, Data Structures, Database Structure, Web App Development, Database Design, Database Optimization, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Exploratory Testing, Manual QA, Release Management, Transport Layer Security (TLS), IBM Watson, Heatmaps, Calendars, GIS, Startups, Communication, SaaS, Cloud, Test Automation, Software as a Service (SaaS), Data Analytics, Manual Testing, Regression Testing, Automated Testing, Debugging, Pull Requests, Objects, HTTPS, Integrations, System Integration, Integration, Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, API Design, OAuth, Workflow Automation, Software Development, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Database Migration, Best Practices, Incident Response, Pipelines, Legacy Code, Email Integration, Client Communication, Client Management, Bug Fixes, Testing, Workflows, API Key

Technical Editor

2017 - 2017

Toptal

Wrote, formatted, edited, and published blog articles, anonymous guides, and other site content.
Created, proofread, and sent newsletters. Debugged newsletter templates and processes.
Recruited and coordinated with authors to produce hiring resources.
Brainstormed and coordinated with the design team for illustrations.
Applied SEO research to blog articles and hiring resource content.
Helped execute social media outreach plans on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Streamlined procedures and checklists regarding editing and publishing.
Added integration automation to the publishing pipeline.

Technologies: HubSpot, Asana, REST APIs, Front-end, HTML5 APIs, Back-end, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Inkscape, JavaScript, Google Apps Script, Google Sheets, Salesforce Einstein, LaTeX, MathJax, Slack, Trello, kramdown, Google Docs, Technical Writing, React, Bootstrap, Web Development, SEO Tools, Scripting, Google Workspace, Design, Code Review, Code Refactoring, Social Media, Web, Document Processing, Google Sheets API, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Atlassian, User Documentation, Communication, Manual Testing, Debugging, Objects, Proofreading, Workflow Automation, Best Practices, Bug Fixes, Testing, Workflows

Indie Developer

2015 - 2016

In the Beginning was the Word Game

Created two very basic Android apps to learn the Google Play Store publishing process.
Built two games for Ludum Dare game jams (i.e., very rapid development).
Designed, developed, blogged, and tweeted about, directed, tested, published, and promoted a commercial video game while contributing bug and feature patches back to the open source technologies being used.
Open-sourced my own library, FlxScrollableArea, to give back to the Haxe game creation community.

Technologies: Back-end, Shotcut, Godot, Inkscape, Audacity, Blender, Linux, OS X, Windows, FlashDevelop, HaxeFlixel, HaXe, Documentation, Technical Documentation, Software, User Experience (UX), Web Development, Architecture, Project Management, PHP, Back-end Development, Game Development, Web Hosting, Git, Quality Assurance (QA), QA Automation, User Interface (UI), Full-stack Development, Databases, User Experience Design, Cross-platform, Apps, CRUD, Game Design, SVG, Animation, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Software Architecture, Scripting, Mobile Games, Mobile, Database Management, Design, Software Engineering, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Technical Leadership, Data Modeling, Code Refactoring, Process Automation, Data Structures, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, 2D, 2D Animation, Exploratory Testing, Manual QA, Release Management, User Documentation, Communication, Test Automation, SDKs, Manual Testing, Regression Testing, Automated Testing, Debugging, Pull Requests, Objects, ImageMagick, HTTPS, Proofreading, Workflow Automation, Software Development, Best Practices, Incident Response, Bug Fixes, Testing, Workflows

Linux Server Administrator and Automation Developer

2015 - 2015

Stepping Stone GmbH

Provisioned KVM server (Linux and Windows) for various client projects, each involving setting up servers from cloned VMs, updating the internal wiki, configuring Zabbix host monitoring, and customizing Iptables-based firewall scripts.
Set up database and application back-end for some projects, which involved creating simplified/prettified documentation for clients and maintaining VM templates.
Provisioned web hosting, mail accounts, backup accounts, and ownCloud servers—set up and administered when requested by various clients.
Helped install new RAID drives in rack servers and remove old ones.
Automated DNS settings and firewall change for 200+ servers by writing bash scripts to extract server data from MediaWiki pages and execute DNS and firewall update scripts on every running Linux-based physical server, vServer, and KVM server.
Optimized maintenance window notifiers and developed features—optimized and extended a Perl script using data from LDAP for exporting and for sending scheduled reminder emails.
Helped prepare for colocation migration by taking physical inventory of rack servers and switches, updating firmware on newly purchased switches, and provisioning a web server from ancient hardware to display a message during migration.
Helped with physical colocation migration by uninstalling rack hardware, moving it, organizing it for most efficient reinstall, reinstalling it, and reconnecting cables.

Technologies: Back-end, LibreOffice, SSH, Templates, MediaWiki, PHP, Windows Server, Remote Desktop, OwnCloud, Iptables, Bash, Vi, Terminal, GitHub, Subversion (SVN), Spiceworks, SugarCRM, Alfresco, DNS, LDAP, GlusterFS, NFS, Ubuntu, Gentoo, CentOS, Quick EMUlator (QEMU), KVM, DevOps, Zabbix, Documentation, Technical Documentation, Software, Web Development, Back-end Development, Web Hosting, Git, QA Automation, Databases, CRUD, Relational Databases, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Automation, Scripting, Database Management, Data, Migration, Code Review, Large-scale Projects, Technical Leadership, Cloud Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Code Refactoring, Leadership, Process Automation, System Administration, Web, Email Automation, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Knowledge Bases, Transport Layer Security (TLS), Communication, SaaS, Cloud, Test Automation, Software as a Service (SaaS), Manual Testing, Automated Testing, Debugging, Objects, HTTPS, Integrations, System Integration, Enterprise Architecture, Workflow Automation, SQL Server, Software Development, Best Practices, Incident Response, Legacy Code, Email Integration, Client Communication, Client Management, Testing, Workflows, Reporting

Full-Stack Software Engineer & Infrastructure Specialist

2013 - 2015

Brant Aero

Reconstructed SQL and filesystem data after a Hyper-V disaster left the latest usable backup three weeks old, using forensic techniques to recover newer data where possible.
Ported PartTake from Visual Basic to a mod_perl intranet application, retaining stockroom workflows and adding barcode and address printing plus just-in-time printer switching on Windows.
Built a new Hyper-V backup solution for several servers or VMs and a few hundred gigabytes of data, using Perl, PowerShell, rsync, rsnapshot, SSH, and related tools.
Migrated a roughly dozen-workstation Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domain to Samba 4, moving domain services to Linux and eliminating Active Directory licensing costs as the number of workstations expanded.
Kept core shop-order history capture available during TotalFBO outages by storing versioned detail lines in PostgreSQL and automatically resynchronizing with its SQL Server database after recovery.
Expanded the purchase-request workflow with fuzzy part search, full-text request history, grouped pending submissions, vendor email templates, notifications, drag-and-drop uploads, and sort-preserving multi-select.
Migrated intranet applications and scheduled scripts from Windows to Linux, while researching, building, configuring, and administering a Linux server to support the new operating environment.
Added hangar-floor parts caching so technicians made fewer stockroom trips while preserving government traceability and supply-level monitoring for parts stored near the work area.
Developed data-integrity cron jobs that detected third-party application errors sooner and alerted the responsible manager through the company’s integrated permissions hierarchy.
Prototyped flittable (then "DaKT"), an open-source single-page intranet menu built with minimal JavaScript and CSS to present basic menu hierarchies efficiently on low-end hardware.

Technologies: Microsoft SQL Server, Hyper-V, Hypervisors, Backups, Disaster Recovery (DR), Visual Basic, Mod_perl, Windows, Windows Server, Perl, PostgreSQL, Samba, Active Directory (AD), Windows System Administration, Linux, CentOS, HTML5, CSS3, Pure CSS, CSS, JavaScript, Apache HTTP Server, pgAdmin, REST APIs, RESTFul APIs, RESTful Development, HTML5 APIs, SQL, HTML5 Canvas, Canvas, Canvas 2D, SQL Server, Back-end, Front-end, Full-stack, DocBook, XSLT, Cygwin, SSH, Rsnapshot, Selenium, Mercurial, Subversion (SVN), pgTAP, PL/pgSQL, VBScript, Regex, Apache, Bash, JSON, DevOps, Technical Writing, Documentation, Technical Documentation, Software, Dashboards, User Experience (UX), Web Development, APIs, Architecture, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, Quality Assurance (QA), QA Automation, API Testing, User Interface (UI), Full-stack Development, Database Architecture, Databases, User Experience Design, Cross-platform, Apps, CRUD, CSV File Processing, Data Visualization, Relational Databases, API Integration, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Software Architecture, Desktop, Record Keeping, Accounting, Automation, Scripting, Database Management, Data, Design, Software Engineering, Migration, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Data Integration, API Development, HTTP, REST, ERD, Workflow, Web Scraping, Website Data Scraping, Data Scraping, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Technical Leadership, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Infrastructure, Code Refactoring, XML, Web Applications, Leadership, Process Automation, Browser Automation, System Administration, Data Architecture, Web, Email Automation, Data Extraction, Data Structures, Database Structure, Document Processing, Web App Development, Finance, Database Design, Database Optimization, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Web UI, Exploratory Testing, Manual QA, Release Management, Knowledge Bases, User Documentation, Communication, Behavior-driven Development (BDD), Test Automation, Manual Testing, Regression Testing, Automated Testing, Debugging, Selenium IDE, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Objects, Transact-SQL (T-SQL), ImageMagick, Statistical Quality Control (SQC), Proofreading, Integrations, System Integration, CRM, Integration, Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, API Design, Workflow Automation, Software Development, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Database Migration, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Best Practices, Incident Response, Pipelines, Row-level Security (RLS), CRM Implementation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Legacy Code, Email Integration, Responsive UI, Client Communication, Client Management, Testing, Workflows, Reporting

National Operations and Accounts Administrator

2011 - 2012

Global Youth Volunteer Network

Migrated a website to a new provider and content to WordPress.
Maintained a home-grown, undocumented web-based accounting system (PHP and MySQL) and extended its features.
Migrated core internal data to a self-hosted CiviCRM system.

Technologies: SQL, Back-end, Front-end, Full-stack, Windows, WordPress, CiviCRM, MacOS, Python, PHP, MySQL, DevOps, Technical Documentation, Software, User Experience (UX), Web Development, Project Management, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, Web Hosting, LAMP, User Interface (UI), Full-stack Development, Databases, User Experience Design, CRUD, Relational Databases, Software Architecture, Record Keeping, Accounting, Database Management, Data, Design, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), HTTP, REST, Code Review, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Infrastructure, Code Refactoring, Web Applications, Leadership, Web, Email Automation, Data Structures, Database Structure, Web App Development, Finance, Coding, Programming, Web Technologies, Web UI, Manual QA, Transport Layer Security (TLS), Communication, Manual Testing, Regression Testing, Debugging, Objects, Pure CSS, HTTPS, Proofreading, Integrations, CRM, Integration, Third-party Integration, Software Development, Database Migration, Incident Response, CRM Implementation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Legacy Code, Client Communication, Client Management, Bug Fixes, Testing, Revenue Operations (RevOps), Workflows, Reporting

Full-Stack Software Engineer — Business Systems & QA Automation

2003 - 2010

Brant Aero

Built PartTake, a sub-400 KB stockroom app for ~20 staff juggling dozens of shop orders, saving hours of weekly data entry and cutting issuance time by an order of magnitude, improving traceability, and making annual inventory an easy one-day project.
Redesigned Brant Aero’s public website and added an automatically updated local aviation weather map; a Dubai firm discovered and was impressed by the site, leading to several major contracts.
Built a CMS+issue tracker in Perl/PostgreSQL/vanilla JavaScript to track government regulation changes, identify affected documents and dependencies, notify relevant employees, and enforce document-review and audit policies through database triggers.
Generated database views and interfaces from a normalized PostgreSQL schema across dozens of views, including role-specific data, linked-record navigation, benchmarking, and saved partial forms to reduce data-loss risk.
Created a staged build pipeline with unit, performance, and integration testing, then added dozens of Selenium checks that reduced roughly an hour of manual testing to a few minutes, allowing for much more agile releases.
Replaced slow tape backups with a Perl-based backup, verification, and restore system; small-file restores fell from 20+ minutes to near-instant, routine jobs took minutes, and weekly tests verified backups.
Added PostgreSQL full-text search to a third-party Microsoft SQL Server application through smart data synchronization, cutting searches from an estimated 5–15 seconds to subsecond results without replacing the platform or adding budget.
Developed an alternative shop-order UI, including a replacement time tracker and RTF/HTML conversion, bridging PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server while filling gaps in the third-party system.
Migrated legacy accounting, inventory, and shop-order system to a Windows/SQL-based platform. Replaced third-party client-heavy approach for commonly used reports with custom SQL, with provably identical output but ~1,000x faster (3.5 mins → 200ms).
Wrote and edited materials for a "Save the Airport" campaign, contributing communications support to a company-backed local political effort that ultimately succeeded.

Technologies: Apache HTTP Server, pgAdmin, REST APIs, HTML5 APIs, SQL, Back-end, Front-end, Full-stack, DocBook, Windows, Linux, XSLT, Cygwin, SSH, Rsnapshot, CentOS, Selenium, Mercurial, Subversion (SVN), pgTAP, PL/pgSQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, VBScript, Visual Basic, JavaScript, Regex, Perl, Apache, Bash, JSON, DevOps, Technical Writing, Documentation, Technical Documentation, Software, Dashboards, User Experience (UX), Web Development, Ruby, APIs, Architecture, Project Management, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, Web Hosting, Quality Assurance (QA), QA Automation, API Testing, jQuery, User Interface (UI), CSS, Full-stack Development, Database Architecture, Databases, User Experience Design, Cross-platform, Apps, CRUD, CSV File Processing, Data Visualization, Relational Databases, API Integration, SVG, Animation, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Software Architecture, Desktop App Development, Desktop, Record Keeping, Accounting, Automation, Scripting, Database Management, Data, Design, Software Engineering, Migration, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Data Integration, API Development, HTTP, REST, ERD, Workflow, Web Scraping, Website Data Scraping, Data Scraping, Learning Management Systems (LMS), RESTFul APIs, Technical Leadership, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Infrastructure, Code Refactoring, XML, Web Applications, Leadership, Process Automation, Browser Automation, System Administration, eCommerce, Data Architecture, Web, Email Automation, Data Extraction, Data Structures, Database Structure, Document Processing, Web App Development, Finance, Database Design, Database Optimization, Coding, Programming, Web Design, Web Technologies, Web UI, Exploratory Testing, Manual QA, Cross-browser Testing, Release Management, Knowledge Bases, User Documentation, Transport Layer Security (TLS), Communication, Behavior-driven Development (BDD), Test Automation, Manual Testing, Regression Testing, Automated Testing, Debugging, Selenium IDE, Mod_perl, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Objects, Microsoft 365, Transact-SQL (T-SQL), Pure CSS, ImageMagick, HTTPS, Statistical Quality Control (SQC), Proofreading, Integrations, System Integration, CRM, Integration, Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, API Design, Workflow Automation, SQL Server, Software Development, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Database Migration, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Best Practices, Incident Response, Pipelines, Row-level Security (RLS), CRM Implementation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Legacy Code, Email Integration, Responsive UI, Client Communication, Client Management, HTML5 Canvas, Canvas, Canvas 2D, Testing, Lifecycle Management (LCM), Workflows, Reporting

Intern

2002 - 2002

Storeimage Programs Inc.

Rebuilt Windows workstations, wrote technical documentation and procedures, organized documents and spare hardware, troubleshot Windows desktop and server issues, and managed desktop virus scanner updates.
Reorganized 200 network cables' worth of spaghetti after hours to avoid service disruption.
Wrote a simple info service generator in PHP on my last day.

Technologies: PHP, HTML, MacOS, Linux, Windows, Technical Writing, Documentation, User Experience (UX), Web Development, Scripting, Migration, Coding, Programming, Knowledge Bases, User Documentation, Communication, Manual Testing, Microsoft 365, Proofreading, Incident Response

Web Designer, Software Developer, IT Systems Administrator

1996 - 2002

Brant Aero

Built a Netscape- and Internet Explorer-compatible DHTML website plus a Windows GUI page-text updater, letting staff update site content without editing HTML manually.
Later created an exceptionally fast-loading website designed to fit on a floppy disk, using minimal HTML and JavaScript so as to perform well for those stuck on dial-up in the cable internet era.
Wrote and implemented the company's IT audit policy, formalizing internal IT review practices and increasing IT service efficiency through consistency.
Rebuilt desktops and servers over many years, handling hands-on maintenance and recovery to keep the company’s workplace technology operational.
Researched and implemented dial-up connection sharing, extending internet access within the organization using the limited connectivity options available at the time.
Designed and launched the company's first website in 1996, establishing an early public-facing online presence.
Managed content for a third-party-hosted e-commerce site, keeping the online offering current while relying on an external platform for commerce and hosting.
Provided general desktop support across an approximately 20-employee organization, diagnosing workstation and software issues and helping staff stay productive.
Organized and maintained the company's aircraft technical library, improving access to reference material used in day-to-day company operations.
Redesigned the company website in 2000, refreshing its public presentation as its business and online information needs evolved.

Technologies: Netscape, Internet Explorer, DHTML, HTML, Windows, JavaScript, Front-end, Front-end Development, Front-end Design, FTP, Visual Basic, Regex, Documentation, User Documentation, Technical Documentation, Software, Software Development, Web Development, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Web Hosting, Web Hosting & Domain Setup, CSS, CSS2, Apps, Desktop App Development, Desktop App, Desktop App Design, Scripting, Design, System Administration, Windows System Administration, eCommerce, Web, Web Technologies, User Experience Design, Communication, Manual Testing, Manual Software Testing, Pure CSS, Proofreading, Writing & Editing, Editing, HTML Editing, Testing, Workflows

Project History

Pluralsight Expert/Author

https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/kevin-bloch

I authored code labs (hands-on tutorials including an in-browser IDE and automated tests that check the code the reader writes) about JavaScript (basic and intermediate), algorithms, MongoDB, and Vitest. I authored and reviewed Skill IQ Assessment packages. I also passed the video course audition with a sample of PostgreSQL content, but I haven't created any video courses yet.

Willy and Mathilda's Houseboat Adventure: The Game

https://ibwwg.itch.io/mathildagame

Wrote all code (Haxe, plus helper scripts in CMD and Bash), processed audio and art, directed voice recordings, and tested, published, and marketed the game. Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

PartTake (Streamlined Stockroom Process)

https://codingthat.com/cv/portfolio/parttake/

PartTake is a small, zero-learning-curve, yet very handy open-stockroom program for companies that use Horizon Business Concepts' TotalFBO (versions 4, 5, or 6).

I wrote it in 2004 (in VB5) and maintained it until 2014, when I ported it to be part of Brant Aero's main intranet app in Perl, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

CheaterMind

https://github.com/IBwWG/cheatermind

I developed a MasterMind clone more or less from scratch, with AI that guarantees the player is always as unlucky as possible.

(It had also been converted to an app and placed in the pipeline for the Google Play Store for beta testing, but not ultimately published there due to Google's policy changes in 2025.)

Codility Silver Award for the Vanadium 2016 Challenge

https://codility.com/cert/view/cert3NYNCC-5QSWERY5K8AQU7QW/

Wrote the hard-level WinterLights challenge "Given a string of digits, count the number of subwords (consistent subsequences) that are anagrams of any palindrome" in Perl and received a silver award. Within 30 minutes, the solution I came up with had achieved 100% correctness.

Very Responsive Single-page Application Prototype

https://github.com/KevinField/DaKT

DialAKneeThing is a lightning-fast, exploration-based hierarchy viewer meant to scale from personal bookmarks all the way up to a replacement for large corporate websites' nav pages and site maps.

I was the initial code and idea author and I used JavaScript and CSS.

JavaScript L-system Interpreter

https://codingthat.com/cv/portfolio/pmath370/

An L-system interpreter written in JavaScript and making use of the then-new HTML5 Canvas technology.

Sole author. Unmaintained since its inception around 2006, but still works as of 2024, a rare surprise in the ever-changing world of front-end web technologies.

Video Game Modding Framework (word_realms_mods)

An unofficial, cross-platform interface for creating and installing mods for the game Word Realms by Asymmetric Publications. I wrote this in Bash and have maintained it so far.

I also hacked some ActionScript3 bytecode to customize some game behavior.

TDD Practice Projects

https://github.com/KevinField/node-js-getting-started

YoseTheGame.com test-driven development (TDD) practice projects.

I forked a basic Node.js server, then developed several mini-projects using test-driven development until I was ranked among the top developers on the site.

Scrollbar Library for HaxeFlixel

https://github.com/IBwWG/FlxScrollableArea

Provides traditional visual scroll bars within the HaxeFlixel engine.

I'm the sole author at this point.

52-Card Pickup 2000 (Win/Mac/Linux, 3D, Open Source)

https://github.com/IBwWG/52cp2k

Jokingly paying homage to the classic trivia game "You Don't Know Jack," for Ludum Dare 37, I made this cross-platform 3D game in a single weekend using the Godot Engine and GDScript, which I had never used before, and released the source online.

Need Inspiration | Basic Android App

https://codingthat.com/blog/android/2025/06/06/goodbye-google-play-store.html

This app pairs random words (either a noun with an adjective, in "make" mode, or a verb with an adverb, in "do" mode) and presents them to you as a phrase, with the intention that you can use said random phrase as inspiration for a story, product, name, and more.

I'm the sole author. As Google's publishing process in the Play Store evolved, I went through it several times over several years (also upgrading my app each time to meet policy requirements) to keep this app in the store. In 2025, I made the APK available on my blog instead.

Video Game Translation Framework

How to use Word Realms to help learn another language: an unofficial guide with helper scripts written in cross-platform Bash and Perl.

Wrote it and maintained it so far. Used it to create mods for word-realms-mods so that interested users have prepackaged translations and don't actually need to use this tool.

Anticolonias (HTML5, Flash)

Wrote the game in Haxe over the course of a few days, for Ludum Dare mini-jam #69. Has way too much strategic and story depth for a jam game, but I got it done. Art is, notably, procedurally generated.

Programming Mentor (with HackHands)

Mentored programmers with varying experience levels, working on projects of varying complexity. The part that did not change was how happy they were with the brief time spent troubleshooting together—even though, in some cases, I was also new to some of the particular technologies they were using.

Programming Mentor (via an Online Freelance Agency)

It's been my privilege to put my decades of experience to use mentoring other programmers on this platform. I only managed to connect with a few individuals this way before shifting my focus elsewhere, but it was great to help people debug their projects.

App Launcher for Alternative OS

https://github.com/KevinField/BeFull

I made a full-screen app launcher in C++ for BeOS around 2003. As of 2014, this app still worked on Haiku (the open source replacement for BeOS), and with one minor tweak, it also worked on Haiku in 2024.

The design was inspired by Fitz's Law, maximizing the clickability (and readability) of each app's launch button. I also implemented caching, so it launched instantly.

Old-fashioned Remote: A Node.js Multimedia Control Server

https://github.com/codingthat/old-fashioned-remote

A full-stack app coded using Node.js and vanilla JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, allowing you to use your smartphone as a simple remote control for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, or your favorite media player. I wrote this as a demonstration project for a Toptal Engineering Blog tutorial. It uses a similar front-end strategy to DaKT, my ultra-lightweight menu interface.

Beeb (Palindrome Assistant)

https://archive.org/details/beeb_20230822

A BeOS app I created using C++. Beeb mirrors texts to help create palindromes. Though the source has been lost for decades, this app still worked on Haiku (the open source replacement for BeOS) as of 2023 with only a minor permissions tweak.

Easy Home Budget Forecaster

https://gist.github.com/codingthat/7b1e29ddfb878696468eca177dff01b4

This is for those who prefer working with SQL over spreadsheets and want a simple, quick, local home budgeting solution.

Put in your monthly income and expenses in "normal_month" and any upcoming one-time transactions in "incidentals." Whenever you check your bank balance, put that in "actual_balances."

Look at the summary view to see your monthly forecast up to 30 months after your earliest balance.

Phaser and TypeScript Game

https://github.com/codingthat/phaser-typescript-game

A minimalist demo project showing how to use proper TypeScript typing throughout a codebase that uses the Phaser game engine. It includes arcade-style platformer physics and placeholder art. It uses a recent version of Phaser 3 and will not take much adjusting to work with Phaser 4 once that's out of beta.

Right-Way-Up Calculator

https://github.com/codingthat/calculator/

A simple calculator with a vertically inverted UI.

(It had also been converted to an app and placed in the pipeline for the Google Play Store for beta testing, but ultimately wasn't published there due to Google's policy changes in 2025.)

Pixel-perfect Algorithm Correction

https://gist.github.com/IBwWG/9ffe25a059983e7e4eeb7640d6645a37?permalink_comment_id=1857731#gistcomment-1857731

After adopting some foundational nine-slice code from a fellow HaxeFlixel developer, I realized it did not work as expected when the bevels were not equal. With some troubleshooting, I was able to correct the algorithm, so it worked more generally.

Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten: DX Edition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defender's_Quest

An HD remake of the classic tower defense/RPG mashup. I beta-tested it through many iterations, reporting more than two hundred bugs in total between my prior account name "IBwWG" and my more recent "codingthat": https://github.com/larsiusprime/tdrpg-bugs/issues?q=is%3Aissue+author%3AIBwWG+OR+author%3Acodingthat

Publication

Education

2005 - 2008

Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics

University of Waterloo - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

2003 - 2005

Progress towards a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Hons) in Global Studies and Mathematics (Minor subjects: Computer Science, Philosophy, Religion and Culture)

Wilfrid Laurier University - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Certifications

MAY 2024 - PRESENT

Machine Learning A-Z: AI, Python & R

Udemy

MAY 2015 - PRESENT

Student (Various Courses)

Codeschool.com (since acquired by Pluralsight)

JANUARY 2009 - PRESENT

Basic Principles of Quality Assurance

The DTI Training Consortium Inc.

JANUARY 2009 - PRESENT

Basic Auditing Principles

The DTI Training Consortium Inc.

Skills

Libraries/APIs

HTML5 APIs, REST APIs, Node.js, Mod_perl, Instagram API, API Development, Google Sheets API, jQuery, ReactiveX, Pure CSS, ImageMagick, React, HTML5 Canvas, Chai, Apiary API, MathJax, Backbone.js, OpenFL, XGBoost, Scikit-learn, NumPy, Gmail API, Mobile HTML5, Web API, SQLAlchemy, Pydantic, OpenAPI, HubSpot API, Zod, Zod Schema, Google Drive API, Google Cloud API, Slack API, Python API, Python Asyncio, Asyncio, Pandas, Playwright, Stripe, Stripe API, Vue

Tools

Mercurial, Apache HTTP Server, Inkscape, GitHub, Audacity, Bitbucket, pgAdmin, Cygwin, Hyper-V, MongoDB Shell, MongoDB Compass, Vitest, Claude Code, Claude, ChatGPT, Apache, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Vagrant, Git, KVM/Qemu, Postman, PhpMyAdmin, Zapier, GitLab, Google Workspace, Canvas, Canvas 2D, Codex, Subversion (SVN), Rsnapshot, Alfresco, SugarCRM, Spiceworks, Terminal, Iptables, FlashDevelop, Mocha, Flyway, Google Docs, Trello, Slack, Salesforce Einstein, Flash, Asana, LaTeX, Blender, MediaWiki, Confluence, Jira, RabbitMQ, Zabbix, Auth0, Atlassian, IBM Watson, GIS, Docker Compose, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Prefect, Loom, GitHub CLI, Prisma, Zoom, Uvicorn, Pytest, OpenCode, Tmux

Languages

TypeScript, JavaScript, Perl, HaXe, SQL, HTML5, PL/pgSQL, Markdown, ECMAScript (ES6), HTML, Python, REBOL, CSS3, Transact-SQL (T-SQL), Bash Script, Visual Basic, Regex, CSS, XML, Bash, VBScript, XSLT, DocBook, Google Apps Script, C, Objective-C, CoffeeScript, C++, Sass, PHP, Ruby, XML/XSLT, Flash ActionScript, Java, ActionScript 3, Pug, ES5, ES7, ES8, JavaScript 5, JavaScript 6, R, Python 3, TypeScript 5, GraphQL, YAML, CSS2

Frameworks

pgTAP, Mithril.js, FeathersJS, Selenium, Express.js, Svelte, Android SDK, Windows PowerShell, Ember.js, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Bootstrap, AngularJS, Django, Vanilla JS, Angular, Swagger, Phaser.io, Alembic, Ruby on Rails 4, Fastify, Streamlit, Starlette, Jinja

Paradigms

Test-driven Development (TDD), Cross-platform, CRUD, Desktop App Development, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), REST, Code Refactoring, Database Design, Test Automation, Manual Testing, Automated Testing, Best Practices, Samba, Behavior-driven Development (BDD), Testing, Agile Software Development, Automation, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Functional Testing, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), DevOps, Unit Testing, Offline-first Development, E2E Testing, Model Context Protocol (MCP), RESTful Development

Platforms

Linux, Windows, HaxeFlixel, Linux Mint, CentOS, Desktop, Web, HubSpot, Docker, BeOS, LAMP, Godot, OpenShift, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Mobile, Vercel, MacOS, WordPress, KVM, Quick EMUlator (QEMU), Ubuntu, Windows Server, OS X, Amazon EC2, Android, CiviCRM, Jupyter Notebook, RStudio, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Netlify, Amazon Linux, Appsmith, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Internet Explorer

Storage

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Microsoft SQL Server, JSON, PostgreSQL, Database Architecture, Databases, Data Pipelines, Relational Databases, Database Management, Data Integration, Database Structure, NoSQL, MongoDB, MySQL, PostGIS, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Database Migration, GlusterFS, OwnCloud, Google Cloud, Redis

Industry Expertise

Accounting, Revenue Operations (RevOps), Project Management, Social Media, Web Design

Other

Full-stack, RSync, AS3 Bytecode, Selenium IDE, Front-end, Back-end, Data Extraction, Proofreading, Documentation, Writing & Editing, Technical Writing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Quality Assurance (QA), Technical Documentation, Software, Dashboards, User Experience (UX), Web Development, APIs, Architecture, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, QA Automation, API Testing, User Interface (UI), Full-stack Development, Apps, CSV File Processing, API Integration, Workflow Automation & System Integration, Software Architecture, Record Keeping, Scripting, Data, Design, Migration, HTTP, ERD, Workflow, Code Review, RESTFul APIs, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Process Automation, Browser Automation, Data Architecture, Data Structures, Document Processing, Web App Development, Coding, Programming, 2D, Manual QA, UI Testing, Release Management, User Documentation, Regression Testing, Agentic AI, Agentic Coding, Integrations, System Integration, Integration, Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, API Design, Orchestration, AI-assisted Development, Workflow Automation, SQL Server, Software Development, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), CRM Implementation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Legacy Code, Client Communication, Client Management, Bug Fixes, Prompt Engineering, OpenAI, Lifecycle Management (LCM), Workflows, Reporting, Objects, Statistical Quality Control (SQC), Microsoft 365, LDAP, HTTPS, SEO Tools, Game Development, Web Hosting, Airtable, Low Code, User Experience Design, Large Language Models (LLMs), Data Visualization, 2D Games, Game Design, SVG, Data Analytics, Game Testing, Software Engineering, Web Scraping, Data Scraping, AI Tools, Website Data Scraping, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Technical Leadership, Cloud Infrastructure, Amazon RDS, Web Applications, Leadership, System Administration, Email Automation, Database Optimization, Web Technologies, Web UI, Web UX, 2D Animation, Exploratory Testing, Mobile App Testing, Cross-browser Testing, Knowledge Bases, Transport Layer Security (TLS), Startups, Communication, SaaS, Cloud, Software as a Service (SaaS), Debugging, JSDOM, SDKs, Pull Requests, Bun, CI/CD Pipelines, Cloudflare, Enterprise Architecture, CRM, AI Agents, AI Engineering, OAuth, Incident Response, Pipelines, Anthropic, Email Integration, Responsive UI, Monorepos, API Key, SSH, Gentoo, NFS, DNS, Vi, Remote Desktop, Templates, Shotcut, kramdown, Games, Modding, Ospec, Regular Expressions, Machine Learning, Google Colaboratory (Colab), Linear Regression, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Dimensionality Reduction, Data Science, Data Preprocessing, Polynomial Regression, Support Vector Regression, Decision Tree Regression, Random Forest Regression, Logistic Regression, K-nearest Neighbors (KNN), Support Vector Machines (SVM), Naive Bayes, Decision Tree Classification, K-means Clustering, Hierarchical Clustering, Association Rule Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Deep Learning, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Cross-validation, Auditing, Content Writing, Data Scientist, Algorithms, Search, Sorting Algorithms, Data Sorting, Pseudocode, Animation, Mobile Games, 3D Games, Large-scale Projects, Infrastructure, Mobile App Development, Scalability, eCommerce, Finance, Google Play Store, Graphics, 2D Graphics, Heatmaps, Calendars, Serverless, Events, Async/Await, SVG Animation, Optimization, Chrome DevTools, Service Workers, FastAPI, CORS, SvelteKit, GitHub Actions, TypeScript 7, HubSpot CRM, Dialers, BullMQ, Vite, Domain-driven Design (DDD), Vertical Slice Architecture, Google Drive, Slack App, Jujutsu (jj), OpenTelemetry, Code Coverage, Integration Testing, Staging, Lint, Linting, SigNoz, NocoDB, Tailscale, Kamal, WebSockets, CRM APIs, Row-level Security (RLS), Payments, Hypervisors, Backups, Disaster Recovery (DR), Netscape, DHTML, Front-end Design, FTP, Web Hosting & Domain Setup, Desktop App, Desktop App Design, Windows System Administration, Manual Software Testing, Editing, HTML Editing, Active Directory (AD), Beta Testing, GitHub Issues, Bug Reports, Bug Analysis & Reporting

Collaboration That Works

How to Work with Toptal

Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.

Share your needs

Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.

Choose your talent

Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.

Start your risk-free talent trial

Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.

Top talent is in high demand.

Start hiring

Work Experience

Contractor

2023 - PRESENT

Toptal

Wrote, reviewed, edited, and SEO-ed technical articles and hiring resources. Wrote and provided technical input on other content.
Maintained technical dialogue on Jira about platform improvements affecting publishing goals.
Oversaw and maintained team process automation in Asana and Zapier.
Migrated a demo back end to Netlify Functions (serverless) due to the host service sunsetting.

Senior Full-stack Developer

2025 - 2026

An American Coaching Platform

Helped an in-progress migration from Node.js to Bun, fixing hundreds of TypeScript errors.
Converted several legacy controllers to full domain-driven design.
Investigated build output, fixing warnings and errors, and suppressing verbose info, making output much easier to reason about by reducing its length 100-fold.
Debugged setup scripts, improved their documentation, and helped get the migration finished and deployed to Google Cloud.
Added Redis-based analytics report for route traffic and errors.
Created a greenfield Streamlit (Python) codebase for support ticket management backed by NocoDB, which then became the basis for migrating internal apps away from Appsmith.
Optimized GitHub Actions steps, reducing deployment times by an average of 43% week-over-week.
Optimized logging setup across the Bun back end, cutting 600 lines of code while consolidating log entries and adding debugging context.
Re-optimized GitHub Actions steps and parallelized the Bun test suite, further reducing deployment times by 30% (while also adding more CI checks), reducing local test suite running time by 62%, and cutting another 3,000 lines of code.

Senior Full-stack Developer

2025 - 2025

An American Analytics Consulting Firm

Fixed bugs like CORS issues, copypasta leftovers causing Pydantic warnings, broken Alembic migrations, and default admin user permissions to get Docker services running locally, then added quick-start documentation.
Compared overlapping fresh-local databases with each other to get a sense for intent, given unfinished and undocumented features and architecture, and compared with live AWS deployment to know what was deployed without being synced to GitHub.
Reviewed codebases, databases, Figma designs, Slack channels, Trello boards, etc., to add time estimates to backlog.
Checked codebase against the current debug/chalk/etc. npm package vulnerability outbreak.
Enabled OpenAPI JSON output and wrote ad-hoc JavaScript to analyze and compare overlapping APIs and determine the extent of documentation regarding expected response structures.

Contractor (Expert and Author)

2024 - 2025

Pluralsight

Authored hands-on code labs (including tutorial text, learner solutions, and automated tests) on JavaScript, MongoDB, Vitest, the Web API (including Canvas, SVG, events, service workers, and animations), VS Code debugging, and algorithms.
Developed robust tests for each code lab (both for the user and for my official task solutions) using Mithril's Ospec testing library. Used a combination of hand-written spies, JSDOM mocks, and regular expressions.
Created a supporting JavaScript module to make one lab's tasks more interactive and the final solution versions of each task's user code.
Wrote bash scripts to streamline my local testing, build, and text aggregation processes, and supported JavaScript code for automatically generating regular expressions and test set up functions based on finalized solution code.
Crafted questions and answers at various skill levels for a Data Science with Python skill assessment package.
Reviewed and corrected (technically and grammatically) the questions and answers authored by other experts for a MongoDB skill assessment package.

Managing Editor

2022 - 2023

Toptal

Oversaw editorial process, providing content review along editorial, technical, and stylistic lines.
Reported, tracked, and advocated for issues affecting team processes using Jira.
Managed publishing process, responding to changes in requirements and improving efficiency while maintaining world-class quality standards.

Lead Editor, Engineering Blog (Publications Team)

2021 - 2022

Toptal

Reviewed, wrote, formatted, edited, and published technical articles and other site content.
Created and reviewed strategic directions and helped with the editor hiring process.
Trained non-technical editors and devised new processes to outsource technical reviews to facilitate their contributions.
Applied SEO research to blog articles and overall team direction.
Created and maintained team procedure and process documentation.

Senior Editor

2019 - 2021

Toptal

Wrote, formatted, edited, and published blog articles, anonymous guides, and other site content according to SEO and team strategies.
Created, proofread, and sent newsletters. Debugged newsletter templates and processes.
Brainstormed and coordinated with the design team for illustrations.
Reviewed, debugged, and otherwise improved example code used in articles.
Maintained user script code to facilitate daily editorial tasks.
Created a prototype pipeline management system to streamline common publishing operations and reduce inconsistencies in the publications team output.

Editor

2017 - 2019

Toptal

Reviewed, wrote, formatted, edited, and published technical articles and other site content.
Created, proofread, and sent newsletters. Debugged newsletter templates and processes.
Brainstormed and coordinated with the design team for illustrations.
Reviewed, debugged, and otherwise improved example code used in articles.
Maintained user script code to facilitate daily editorial tasks.

Senior Back-end Developer (Node.js)

2017 - 2018

Mllnnl

Maintained, extended, and scaled the back end and database.
Managed DevOps processes, including being co-responsible and later solely responsible for versioning and deployment.
Conducted code reviews of front- and back-end code as well as PostgreSQL stored procedures and views.
Coordinated with front-end developers on back-end API changes.
Implemented the back-end test suite to avoid regressions.
Integrated with the IBM Watson API to language-bucket and helped interpret social media content.
Added heatmap calendar API endpoint; supporting database, fetch, calculation, and caching infrastructure; and corresponding database and back-end unit tests.
Fixed GIS (PostGIS) indexing and searching issues.

Technical Editor

2017 - 2017

Toptal

Wrote, formatted, edited, and published blog articles, anonymous guides, and other site content.
Created, proofread, and sent newsletters. Debugged newsletter templates and processes.
Recruited and coordinated with authors to produce hiring resources.
Brainstormed and coordinated with the design team for illustrations.
Applied SEO research to blog articles and hiring resource content.
Helped execute social media outreach plans on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Streamlined procedures and checklists regarding editing and publishing.
Added integration automation to the publishing pipeline.

Indie Developer

2015 - 2016

In the Beginning was the Word Game

Created two very basic Android apps to learn the Google Play Store publishing process.
Built two games for Ludum Dare game jams (i.e., very rapid development).
Designed, developed, blogged, and tweeted about, directed, tested, published, and promoted a commercial video game while contributing bug and feature patches back to the open source technologies being used.
Open-sourced my own library, FlxScrollableArea, to give back to the Haxe game creation community.

Linux Server Administrator and Automation Developer

2015 - 2015

Stepping Stone GmbH

Provisioned KVM server (Linux and Windows) for various client projects, each involving setting up servers from cloned VMs, updating the internal wiki, configuring Zabbix host monitoring, and customizing Iptables-based firewall scripts.
Set up database and application back-end for some projects, which involved creating simplified/prettified documentation for clients and maintaining VM templates.
Provisioned web hosting, mail accounts, backup accounts, and ownCloud servers—set up and administered when requested by various clients.
Helped install new RAID drives in rack servers and remove old ones.
Automated DNS settings and firewall change for 200+ servers by writing bash scripts to extract server data from MediaWiki pages and execute DNS and firewall update scripts on every running Linux-based physical server, vServer, and KVM server.
Optimized maintenance window notifiers and developed features—optimized and extended a Perl script using data from LDAP for exporting and for sending scheduled reminder emails.
Helped prepare for colocation migration by taking physical inventory of rack servers and switches, updating firmware on newly purchased switches, and provisioning a web server from ancient hardware to display a message during migration.
Helped with physical colocation migration by uninstalling rack hardware, moving it, organizing it for most efficient reinstall, reinstalling it, and reconnecting cables.

Full-Stack Software Engineer & Infrastructure Specialist

2013 - 2015

Brant Aero

Reconstructed SQL and filesystem data after a Hyper-V disaster left the latest usable backup three weeks old, using forensic techniques to recover newer data where possible.
Ported PartTake from Visual Basic to a mod_perl intranet application, retaining stockroom workflows and adding barcode and address printing plus just-in-time printer switching on Windows.
Built a new Hyper-V backup solution for several servers or VMs and a few hundred gigabytes of data, using Perl, PowerShell, rsync, rsnapshot, SSH, and related tools.
Migrated a roughly dozen-workstation Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domain to Samba 4, moving domain services to Linux and eliminating Active Directory licensing costs as the number of workstations expanded.
Kept core shop-order history capture available during TotalFBO outages by storing versioned detail lines in PostgreSQL and automatically resynchronizing with its SQL Server database after recovery.
Expanded the purchase-request workflow with fuzzy part search, full-text request history, grouped pending submissions, vendor email templates, notifications, drag-and-drop uploads, and sort-preserving multi-select.
Migrated intranet applications and scheduled scripts from Windows to Linux, while researching, building, configuring, and administering a Linux server to support the new operating environment.
Added hangar-floor parts caching so technicians made fewer stockroom trips while preserving government traceability and supply-level monitoring for parts stored near the work area.
Developed data-integrity cron jobs that detected third-party application errors sooner and alerted the responsible manager through the company’s integrated permissions hierarchy.
Prototyped flittable (then "DaKT"), an open-source single-page intranet menu built with minimal JavaScript and CSS to present basic menu hierarchies efficiently on low-end hardware.

National Operations and Accounts Administrator

2011 - 2012

Global Youth Volunteer Network

Migrated a website to a new provider and content to WordPress.
Maintained a home-grown, undocumented web-based accounting system (PHP and MySQL) and extended its features.
Migrated core internal data to a self-hosted CiviCRM system.

Full-Stack Software Engineer — Business Systems & QA Automation

2003 - 2010

Brant Aero

Built PartTake, a sub-400 KB stockroom app for ~20 staff juggling dozens of shop orders, saving hours of weekly data entry and cutting issuance time by an order of magnitude, improving traceability, and making annual inventory an easy one-day project.
Redesigned Brant Aero’s public website and added an automatically updated local aviation weather map; a Dubai firm discovered and was impressed by the site, leading to several major contracts.
Built a CMS+issue tracker in Perl/PostgreSQL/vanilla JavaScript to track government regulation changes, identify affected documents and dependencies, notify relevant employees, and enforce document-review and audit policies through database triggers.
Generated database views and interfaces from a normalized PostgreSQL schema across dozens of views, including role-specific data, linked-record navigation, benchmarking, and saved partial forms to reduce data-loss risk.
Created a staged build pipeline with unit, performance, and integration testing, then added dozens of Selenium checks that reduced roughly an hour of manual testing to a few minutes, allowing for much more agile releases.
Replaced slow tape backups with a Perl-based backup, verification, and restore system; small-file restores fell from 20+ minutes to near-instant, routine jobs took minutes, and weekly tests verified backups.
Added PostgreSQL full-text search to a third-party Microsoft SQL Server application through smart data synchronization, cutting searches from an estimated 5–15 seconds to subsecond results without replacing the platform or adding budget.
Developed an alternative shop-order UI, including a replacement time tracker and RTF/HTML conversion, bridging PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server while filling gaps in the third-party system.
Migrated legacy accounting, inventory, and shop-order system to a Windows/SQL-based platform. Replaced third-party client-heavy approach for commonly used reports with custom SQL, with provably identical output but ~1,000x faster (3.5 mins → 200ms).
Wrote and edited materials for a "Save the Airport" campaign, contributing communications support to a company-backed local political effort that ultimately succeeded.

Intern

2002 - 2002

Storeimage Programs Inc.

Rebuilt Windows workstations, wrote technical documentation and procedures, organized documents and spare hardware, troubleshot Windows desktop and server issues, and managed desktop virus scanner updates.
Reorganized 200 network cables' worth of spaghetti after hours to avoid service disruption.
Wrote a simple info service generator in PHP on my last day.

Web Designer, Software Developer, IT Systems Administrator

1996 - 2002

Brant Aero

Built a Netscape- and Internet Explorer-compatible DHTML website plus a Windows GUI page-text updater, letting staff update site content without editing HTML manually.
Later created an exceptionally fast-loading website designed to fit on a floppy disk, using minimal HTML and JavaScript so as to perform well for those stuck on dial-up in the cable internet era.
Wrote and implemented the company's IT audit policy, formalizing internal IT review practices and increasing IT service efficiency through consistency.
Rebuilt desktops and servers over many years, handling hands-on maintenance and recovery to keep the company’s workplace technology operational.
Researched and implemented dial-up connection sharing, extending internet access within the organization using the limited connectivity options available at the time.
Designed and launched the company's first website in 1996, establishing an early public-facing online presence.
Managed content for a third-party-hosted e-commerce site, keeping the online offering current while relying on an external platform for commerce and hosting.
Provided general desktop support across an approximately 20-employee organization, diagnosing workstation and software issues and helping staff stay productive.
Organized and maintained the company's aircraft technical library, improving access to reference material used in day-to-day company operations.
Redesigned the company website in 2000, refreshing its public presentation as its business and online information needs evolved.

Project History

Pluralsight Expert/Author

https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/kevin-bloch

Willy and Mathilda's Houseboat Adventure: The Game

https://ibwwg.itch.io/mathildagame

Wrote all code (Haxe, plus helper scripts in CMD and Bash), processed audio and art, directed voice recordings, and tested, published, and marketed the game. Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux.