I am Dan Hagen. I am looking for a fulltime career in the Chicago area this summer. I have been doing software production in the industry for four years, and have acquired a broad range of skills in my field.
My technical expertise includes object-oriented PHP, MySQL, XHTML, CSS, Javascript/Ajax, Photoshop, and XML. I am lightly skilled, but can apply more of a learning curve if need be to ASP.Net, Java, Flash, Illustrator, Ruby on Rails, and Linux. I can confidently learn them them in my career path, and probably will over the next year or two.
I have become familiar with several frameworks in the last couple of years, namely Prototype and Scriptaculous. I have implemented payment gateways using Paypal APIs, and know the ropes of that stuff inside and out. In our projects, my last company used TinyMCE, an open-source text editor similar to YUI. In my spare time, I have become lightly familiar with Ruby on Rails, CakePHP, and Akelos. On occasion I have also had some fun with Google Maps and Google Calendars.
Conceptually, when it concerns database-driven production sites, I know the wheel. I understand how objects work on an abstract level, how they are developed in the analysis and design phases of projects, and how they need to run in MVC models. I took some time to learn some design patterns last year, and have integrated some of them into my work over the last several months. Even though my company did not use any frameworks in our last project, I refactored the site into some framework classes of my own that utilized the ActiveRecord/MVC patterns and provided quicker turnarounds for the features. I then took the opportunity to educate the other programmers on some of the basics of that paradigm.
I have been through enough difficult situations in my career path with customers and personnel to have a very realistic approach to the communication end of things. I have learned to be direct about my abilities, my certainty about timelines and deadlines, and I have a highly sensitive scope creep radar. I know the nature of the beast, have shoveled a lot of dirt, and can probably give you some good products that people can use.
But I believe in having a life too, and in the evenings I do everything except look at a computer. I am often out riding a bicycle, working out, going to concerts, or similar things, and my career absolutely has to allow for it.
The only question now is, are we a good fit for each other?
EasyPrompt.com
I worked on this website with a project team for about nine months. I designed and implemented several of the portals on the site, and integrated DOM/Ajax modules into the UI in enough places to feel comfortable with that aspect of the design. Early in the year, I gave the entire engine block of the site an object-oriented overhaul to make it more scalable for growth. I then spent some time educating the other programmers about how the objects should work, posted extensive documentation about it, and continued to add features with a faster turnaround.
myDataBus.com
I worked full time with a production team to maintain and add features to myDataBus, a public file storage website with 100,000+ registered users. My responsibilities have included building AJAX/DOM interfaces, implementing a recurring billing solution using a Paypal/Verisign gateway, connecting the backend to a mobile interface, addressing scalability and schema improvements, and handling general maintenance and customer support issues.
VOCAL Database System (Inactive)
This is a medium-scale, Object-Oriented database system that I implemented for Vocal, a non-profit organization with departments based all over Virginia. The system provides users with a better means of networking and administration, facilitating communication between different departments on many different levels.
In total, the UML model had about twenty entities and the database had 27 tables. I spent about a month designing the architecture and gathering requirements, then three months building features and interfacing with the customers. This project taught me everything I need to know about scope creep issues. It makes use of the ActiveRecord, MVC, and Iterator design patterns.
Massanutten Ski School Reservation System (Inactive)
I used PHP and MySQL to build an online reservation system for a local ski resort in my area. It allows families to make reservations for their children by using online forms. They are then stored in the database where the Ski School staff can view the information as broken down into rosters and schedules. This solution was successful in its effort to streamline the Ski School's business process.
ActivateVirginia.org
This website uses a login-protected system where a user can record the number of "steps" that he/she takes in any given day on a calendar. The system then records their progress and informs them of how many miles they would have walked on a selected "trail". Graphical representations of several different trails were provided by another designer, and load dynamically depending on the user's progress.
Design Patterns
This is a test case page I made for all of the design patterns that I was learning a while ago. In order to understand them better, you probably need to see the code, which you can look at inside of the patterns.zip file. I have used some of them in production later on in my career.
Let me know if you are interested in setting up an interview and I'll see what I can do.
