Head of Digital
2017 - 2018Blonde and Giant- Created the agency website (https://blondeandgiant.com) using CraftCMS as a back-end, utility-based CSS, and VueJS on the front-end.
- Dealt with all clients requiring any software-based solutions and ran the whole process from ideation, strategy, pitching and execution.
Technologies: Laravel, VueJS, CraftCMSSenior Web Developer
2013 - 2017BRND WGN- Led the development of the creation of a reusable CMS that automatically exposes a REST API for content to be consumed by the front end and powers most of the websites delivered by the company.
- Created the integration (with a legacy SOAP API) for online insurance creation and renewals for one of Malta's leading insurance companies.
- Handled the DevOps of all websites built by the company, and helped upgrade the development process to include modern tooling (for automated server creation and version controlled projects).
- Led the development of ElasticSearch based solutions to deliver fast and robust search experiences when dealing with large volumes of data.
Technologies: Laravel, PHP, VueJS, JavaScript, JQuery, Redis, Linux, ElasticSearchWeb Designer & Developer
2011 - 2013Orange Travel Group- Maintained and continued development of the online booking system that was used by the company.
- Designed and developed corporate websites for the holding company and its subsidiaries.
- Developed a custom multisite CMS to support the company website structure.
Technologies: PHP, CakePHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Michael Stivala
Software Architecture Developer in Birgu, Malta
Member since June 13, 2018
Mike has over seven years of experience developing robust web-based applications and specializes in building performant Laravel applications using modern test-driven development practices. His experience ranges from working in development teams to deliver complex projects on time, to running a digital department where his ideation and communication skills allowed him to work in harmony with clients and other service providers.
Michael is now available for hire
Portfolio
- Blonde and GiantLaravel, VueJS, CraftCMS
- BRND WGNLaravel, PHP, VueJS, JavaScript, JQuery, Redis, Linux, ElasticSearch
- Orange Travel GroupPHP, CakePHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Experience
- PHP 7 years
- JavaScript 7 years
- Software Architecture 7 years
- Laravel 4 years
- Test-driven Development (TDD) 2 years
- Vue.js 2 years
Availability
Part-time
Preferred Environment
macOS, Sublime, Git
The most amazing...
...project I've worked on is WhichBeach.com.mt—one of Malta's most popular websites. I formed a team around my idea and together we launched the site.
Employment
Experience
- Which Beach (Development)https://whichbeach.com.mt
This is a personal project made with a couple of other partners. The website integrates with weather APIs to automatically score beaches based on some heuristics. It has become one of Malta's most popular websites (especially during the summer months).
The application is built in Laravel and is backed by a suite of automated tests. The REST API powers both the front-end and the iOS and Android apps, that we built using the Ionic framework. - Martini Summer Game (Development)
I developed an SPA using Vue.js and running of a REST API built in Laravel that allowed players to guess the location of a photo by dropping a pin on a map.
Players were scored based on the proximity of their guess to the correct answer and their high score was tracked on a public leaderboard.
In the first month, over 7500+ games were played on the platform. - What Floats Your Vote (Development)https://lovinmalta.com/news/over-12-000-emails-sent-to-candidates-through-lovin-maltas-what-floats-your-vote
In collaboration with LovinMalta, I developed a platform to allow the Maltese voters to connect with local politicians by choosing issues they felt strongly about and sending emails through the platform to their district's politicians.
Over 12,000 emails were sent through the website in the first week. The website was able to remain responsive throughout this influx of activity through the use of Redis based queue management that offloaded the email sending to background processes. - Saz Mifsud (Development)https://sazmifsud.com
Created the eCommerce store for the Malta-based fashion brand Saz Mifsud. The multi-currency store is powered by WordPress and WooCommerce.
Skills
Languages
Sass, PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScriptFrameworks
Laravel, Laravel Spark, PHPUnit, Symfony, IonicParadigms
Test-driven Development (TDD), Agile Software Development, Pair ProgrammingPlatforms
Craft CMS, Web, Amazon Web Services (AWS), LEMP, Docker, AlgoliaOther
Software Architecture, Laravel Forge, SOAP, Vue-routerLibraries/APIs
Vue.js, PusherTools
Git, Amazon CloudFront CDN, NginxStorage
MySQL, Elasticsearch, MySQLi
Education
- Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science2008 - 2011University of Malta - Malta
