Pierce Zaifman
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Pierce has been developing Android apps for over 10 years, from the initial planning phases to deployment, primarily in a professional environment. He has a strong educational base with a bachelor of science in computer science from Western University, where he graduated with an honors specialization and with distinction.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Git, Android Studio, MacOS
The most amazing...
...thing I've done is to reduce the time-to-render lines on a map from 4 minutes to 10 seconds.
Work Experience
Senior Android Developer
Mode Software Inc.
- Worked on Mode, a messaging app focused on security and privacy. I used SQLCipher to encrypt the database and all of the messages encoded with Protobuf.
- Created unit tests with JUnit and functional tests using Espresso and Mockito, which all ran on our continuous integration system through Bamboo, failing the build if the tests failed.
- Developed Gradle plugins using Kotlin script to streamline our release process and standardize our versioning. Also implemented Sentry to help track down crashes in the app.
Core Team Member
Mode Software Inc.
- Led the transition from Java to Kotlin, introduced coroutines, removed deprecated libraries, and introduced Model View ViewModel (MVVM), all to modernize the codebase and eliminate technical debt.
- Built a custom camera view initially using Camera2 and later CameraX. This was very difficult since each phone model works differently, and errors were often obscure and hard to track down. This allowed the app to take and send photos securely.
- Found a way to sync user data across devices since it wasn't stored in the cloud. Resolving sync conflicts was the primary concern, so I built a different algorithm for each data type. This gave users access to messages on their phones and laptops.
Android Developer
Ultius, Inc. (via Toptal)
- Created an Android app for the web app clients to log in to.
- Built this app alone—starting from nothing to the final product.
- Worked from mockups provided by the client to build their desired look and feel as well as functionality.
- Helped the client setup the app in the Play Store for release and beta testing.
- Built this app using RESTful principles to communicate with the client's API.
Android Developer
AppColony
- Translated designer mockups and functional requirements into working code as well as working closely with designers to ensure that we followed the Android Material Design guidelines.
- Built an app designed for tablets that was taken across Canada to be used in a show room and was delivered early and under budget.
- Built an Android app for MakeShift (a shift-scheduling app) to help employees view their schedules, exchange shifts, request time-off, clock-in to a geofence, and more.
- Added support for a real-time chat using Web Sockets in an employee communication app.
- Set up functional automated testing using Espresso for Android.
Web Developer (Intern)
Autodata Solutions Inc.
- Developed web applications; primarily in Java using the GWT, Spring, and MyBatis frameworks.
- Developed ETL tools to enable data from certain databases to flow into other databases.
- Worked on a team and had to quickly learn how to use GWT and MyBatis frameworks to aid the team in development.
- Was given the full responsibility in my team to create any required regular expressions.
- Helped train a new employee—answering any questions and providing guidance on specific tasks.
Experience
MakeShift
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.appcolony.makeshift.androidI worked with one other developer on this app but was also the sole developer for several months beforehand.
MakeShift Live
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.appcolony.makeshiftlive.androidI worked on this app with one other developer. We split our work up into various features and worked on them in isolation. We also reviewed the code of each other's features when they were complete.
MakeShift Connect
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.appcolony.makeshift.connect.androidI was assigned this project after the first developer was taken off the project. I had to build the socket communication aspect so users could actually send messages in real time. As well as display a list of paginated conversations and messages.
OneTap
I was added on to this project after most of the work was complete—to maintain it for several months by adding small features and fixing bugs.
Hockey Canada Network
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.hockeycanada.networkI worked on this app with one other developer, and eventually became the sole developer. I added the ability to download articles to view them offline, set up teams, and many other features.
Ultius
This app is for clients. They can send messages, review their orders, check their documents, and more.
Mode for Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.mode.imMode employs a multi-layered encryption scheme. It encrypts communication data with AES-GCM and strengthens it using an advanced implementation of elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman schemes with the CRYSTALS-Kyber post-quantum protocol.
Skills
Languages
Java, Kotlin, SQL, JavaScript, XML
Frameworks
Android SDK, Espresso, Dagger 2, Dagger
Libraries/APIs
REST APIs, Google Maps, RxJava, Retrofit, Google Maps SDK, Butterknife, Firebase Android SDK, Google Analytics API
Platforms
Android, Firebase, MacOS, HockeyApp
Other
Software Development, Writing & Editing, Google Play Store, Code Review, OkHttp, Data Structures, Algorithms
Tools
Google Analytics, GitHub, RxAndroid, Crashlytics, greenDAO, Slack, Git, Android Studio, Hockey SDK, Jenkins, Jira, Android Jetpack
Paradigms
Agile, REST
Storage
SQLite, MySQL, JSON
Education
Android Developer Nanodegree in Android Development
Udacity - Online
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Western University - London, Ontario, Canada
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