Sheldon Linker
Verified Expert in Engineering
ISAM Developer
Irvine, CA, United States
Toptal member since July 6, 2020
Dr. Linker has been doing consulting and contract programming for decades. He has specialized in database work since 1978. His doctoral work involved AI and knowledge bases. He is also adept at programming servers, client systems, desktop systems, embedded systems, and a number of other types of systems. Sheldon has served in a database, programming, business analyst, and project management capacity. He currently teaches the latter two at the University of Maryland online.
Portfolio
Experience
- ISAM - 20 years
- C - 20 years
- SQL - 20 years
- PL/SQL - 20 years
- C++ - 18 years
- Crystal - 12 years
- IBM Db2 - 10 years
- C# - 4 years
Availability
Preferred Environment
Mainframe, Embedded Systems, Win32, .NET, Windows, Java, C++, Linux, Unix, SQL
The most amazing...
...project I've worked on was the Strategic Defense Initiative—I optimized a message-passing system, allowing throughput to enable taking out an incoming ICBM.
Work Experience
Adjunct Professor
University of Maryland
- Taught students project management and operational techniques involving requirements gathering, requirements writing, choosing a project methodology, and QA.
- Helped to write and improve new textbooks currently in use.
- Maintained a 3-year running minimum of student outcomes and student satisfaction in the top 10%. As a result, I was awarded a bonus for my efforts.
- Helped to update the curriculum for the software engineering requirements class (SWEN 645).
Programmer | Developer | Designer | Manager
Linker Systems, Inc.
- Rescued a number of failing projects through programming, forensics, setting management plans, and occasionally acting as manager.
- Brought to get several systems from inception to fruition or from their current state to fruition. Performed my role both alone and as a part of a team, on a time-and-expense basis, and sometimes on a fixed-price basis.
- Conducted research for several customers, the details of which I am unable to discuss. I also researched for my own company; the patent searches found at USPTO using Inventor=Sheldon And Inventor=Linker.
Full-stack, Desktop, and Embedded Developer
Freelance
- Improved the operational speed and normalization of databases for a number of clients.
- Simplified the amount of code in use, and the time taken, by a number of clients' applications through rewriting and refactoring of code.
- Improved system design resulting in shorter and clearer message flows and business processes.
- Managed projects from the onset and from the point of original failure to successful completion.
- Brought clients' website ideas from original sketches to finished websites, boxed products, and embedded products.
- Closed security holes for a number of clients, including insurance and banking endeavors.
- Helped in the transition from one system to another, such as SQL Server to Oracle and DB/2, from Borland C to C#, and from Amiga to Mac, Windows, and SGI.
- Found and fixed a number of bugs for a variety of clients.
Technical Advisor
INVISTA Company - Managed Delivery
- Worked in a team of two and created an automatic translation of Fortran to Python using Java.
- Taught others how to do parsing of non-SLR languages, such as Fortran.
- Taught others how to write an optimizer, in this case, to translate the Fortran jump-style code into Python's structured code.
Programmer | Developer | Designer
The PIASC
- Redesigned their database and communication with the database for speed and accuracy.
- Sped up many of their reports and batch processes, for instance, changed their accounting run from 25 hours to less than an hour.
- Took over and managed their web project to get the site online and fully integrated with their desktop applications, fixing security flaws in the process.
- Automated many manual functions so that on the programming side, fewer team members were needed, and on the customer representative side, more time could be spent with customers.
Programmer | Developer | Designer
Friar Tux Shop
- Enhanced the website and integrated it with other systems.
- Set up an internal information website to help with inventory management and processing.
- Enhanced their internal flow, including adding specialty print drivers for tag printers.
Programmer
Delta Dental Plans Association
- Sped up some processes as much as 1600x by reworking the algorithms, and by adding code to decide on the best algorithm for a given job.
- Added a website for employers to manage employee eligibility.
- Added EDI processing so that the system could read transactions in a number of formats.
- Enhanced their reporting system, so that it could generate a broader range of reports more quickly, and replaced two pages of controls on a complicated report generator to a field that took an English description of what was needed.
Programmer
Kofax
- Ported their SQL Server T-SQL code to run on all variants of Oracle's PL/SQL, including the capability for the Kofax system to act as a DBA in the target environment.
- Ported their SQL Server T-SQL code to run on all variants of IBM's DB/2, including the capability for the Kofax system to act as a DBA in the target environment.
- Reengineered their SQL Server T-SQL code, to act much faster, and to do its own DBA work to make the database structure much faster.
QA | Programmer
DIRECTV
- Added channel-hopping and compression-related features so that older satellites could be retired without replacement.
- Found a number of bugs and documented them as a QA tech. Switched to a programmer role and fixed those that had not yet been fixed.
- Added an extension to the file system so that rolling-buffer files could be used with raw open, read, write, tell, seek, and close calls.
Writer
Byte Magazine
- Wrote published articles on software and hardware topics.
- Republished some of my articles in the best of issues.
- Responded to letters to the editors' items on occasion.
Experience
JCB English and JCB Robotics
Education
PhD in Computer Science and Software Engineering
Auburn University - Auburn, AL, United States
Master of Science Degree in Computer Science
University of Illinois - Springfield, IL, United States
Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Science and Technology
Thomas Edison State College - Trenton, NJ, United States
Coursework in Electrical Engineering
University of California - Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA, United States
Certifications
Kofax Capture
Kofax
Skills
Libraries/APIs
POSIX, ASPX, Node.js, REST APIs, Sockets
Tools
Oracle SQL Data Modeler, Borland C, Crystal Reports, Visio, Microsoft Word, Visual Studio, JCL, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Apache, Cron, Toad, GitHub, Git
Languages
APL, Assembly, C, C++, C#, Fortran, HTML, Java, JavaScript, PHP, PL/I, SQL, Crystal, Stored Procedure, Embedded C, Embedded C++, T-SQL (Transact-SQL), ANSI C, Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic, COBOL, CSS, Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET), XML, HTML5, Pascal, Prolog, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), Python, BASIC, Excel VBA, VBScript, Pro*C, RPGLE, UML, VB, VB.NET, Visual Basic 6 (VB6), ALGOL 60
Paradigms
Management, ETL, Database Design, ETL Implementation & Design, Database Development, Agile, Event-driven Architecture, HIPAA Compliance, Desktop App Development, Web Performance Optimization (WPO), Business Intelligence (BI), API Architecture, Web Architecture, Acceptance Test-driven Development (ATDD), REST, Test-driven Development (TDD), RESTful Development, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA)
Platforms
Linux, Windows, Oracle, Desktop, LAMP, AS/400, IBM z/OS, Embedded Linux, KornShell, Unix, Win32, SharePoint, Web
Storage
IBM Db2, PL/SQL, Databases, Microsoft SQL Server, Database Architecture, Database Modeling, SQL Server 2014, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Stored Procedures, Relational Databases, Database Triggers, Database Transactions, SQL Triggers, Database Management Systems (DBMS), Column-oriented DBMS, SQL Architecture, Oracle PL/SQL, Oracle 12c, Oracle SQL, DB, Oracle RDBMS, SQL Server 2017, Database Performance, SQL Server 2010, SQL Server 2016, ANSI SQL, Data Validation, SQL Performance, SQL Server 2019, SQL Server 2012, MySQL, PostgreSQL, JSON, Teradata, Teradata Databases, NoSQL, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Oracle DBA, Redis
Frameworks
Jakarta Server Pages (JSP), Swing, Vanilla JS, .NET, Hibernate, .NET Core, ASP.NET
Industry Expertise
Project Management, E-learning
Other
Shell Scripting, ISAM, Yacc, Business Analysis, Reporting, Data Modeling, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Database Optimization, Database Table Optimization, Query Optimization, Relational Data Mapping, Relational Database Design, Relational Database Services (RDS), Triggers, Data Reporting, Data Quality Analysis, Data Analytics, Complex Data Analysis, Code Architecture, Debugging, Modeling, Reports, Data Aggregation, Data Profiling, Master Data, Analytical Thinking, Data, SDKs, Business Logic, Business Rules, Business Process Analysis, Analysis, ETL Development, BI Reporting, Indexing, Performance Tuning, Data Cleansing, Data Cleaning, Architecture, CSV File Processing, Consulting, Database Schema Design, Waterfall Methodology, Technical Instruction, SQL Server 2015, iSeries, Java Native Interface (JNI), Programming, Optimization, Linear Optimization, Nonlinear Optimization, Performance, Software Architecture, Real-time Data, Solution Architecture, Client-server Model, API Design, Full-stack Development, Full-stack, Low-level Programming, Web Development, Firmware, Internet of Things (IoT), Data Conversion, Software Development, Algorithms, Embedded Software, Strategy, Leadership, Data Structures, Site Speed Optimization, Embedded Development, Back-end, Microsoft Data Transformation Services (now SSIS), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Load Time, php performance, Website Performance, Technical Requirements, Kofax, Data Migration, Writing & Editing, Lecturing, Data Warehousing, APIs, Data Warehouse Design, Data Engineering, Database Analytics, Data Visualization, Analytics, Enterprise, Big Data, Quality Assurance (QA), Financial Reporting Dashboards, Financial Reporting, SOAP, Dashboards, ANSI X12, ANSI X.12, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), PDF, Templates, Technical Writing, Concurrent Computing, Networking, Credit Cards, Fintech, Hardware, Education, Education Technology (Edtech), Prototyping, FTP, Serial Communication, RS-232, Stock Trading, Trading, Embedded Hardware, New Products, Software as a Service (SaaS), Data Scraping, API Integration, Integration, Sensor Data, Software QA, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Embedded Systems, Mainframe, SSRS Reports, Google, SMTP, SSH, SSL, TV, User Interface (UI), UDP, Use Cases, UTF-8, Utilities, UNIX Utilities, Web UI, Technology, Electronics, Technical Leadership, Code Review, Deployment, Supabase, CI/CD Pipelines, Educational Portals, CAN Bus, Email Automation, Web Scraping
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