Hi!
I'm Julian Edwards, a web developer in Austin, Texas.
Let me tell you a little bit about myself.
Computers were central to many of my hobbies growing up
Since I got my first computer in 2011 I've had many different experiences and solved many problems with computers. Whether that's learning to setup and troubleshoot video game mod installations, my first dual boot Ubuntu system, and yes even messing with Ruby and Java.
But the story didn't end there...
A couple of years ago I began to pursue them professionally. With all my experiences highlighting my love for learning, solving problems, tinkering and creating, I decided to take the plunge and return to coding. I started with Python, but suddenly was offered a unique opportunity...
Enter Inventive Academy
I was lucky enough to be put into contact with Inventive who were looking for volunteers to trial run their full stack web development course, now all-online courtesy of COVID-19.
Let's take a look at what I've learned
Frontend
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript/TypeScript
- React
- Vite
Backend
- Node.js
- NPM/PNPM
- Express.js
- MySQL & Sequelize ORM
Infrastructure
- Docker
- Bash
- Github Actions
- Amazon Web Services
Some other technologies I've had the pleasure of using include PHP and Wordpress/Laravel, C#, Scala, Python, jQuery, D3, MongoDB & Mongoose ODM, Gulp, and testing frameworks like Vitest/JEST and Mocha.
Learning and using new tech is exciting. There are many others I'd like to try and plenty left to learn about what I already know. However, what really excites me is the prospect of putting these tools to use building real products with a team.
So what's that really look like?
Building a maintainable and fully featured app
With today's digital distribution and constant sales it's easy to end up with more games than you can play. I wanted to make a simple and focused app to help me decide what to play next.
With Games Not Played users have access to an extensive 3rd party database of games. Using simple data and sorting features you can easily narrow down your choices.
My primary focus was to create a well rounded app with consistent custom CSS styling, working user authentication, and proper web hosting. I also integrated VS Code development containers and a continuous delivery workflow with Github Actions and Amazon Web Services.
Key Technologies and Concepts
- Typescript
- React
- User Authentication
- CI/CD Automation
- Cloud Infrastructure
- and more...
Handling complexity and edge cases
An early assignment, I was tasked with building a simulation of cars in a parking lot by scratch. Using an object-oriented approach I created recursive algorithms to get cars to and from their spaces, generate necessary turn and parking animations and handle collision aversion in both standard and edge cases.
A formative moment in my journey to learn what really makes a software engineer beyond knowing language syntax and libraries, I wrote an article about my experience with this project.
Read How a Junior Dev Can Learn from 40-Year-Old MistakesKey Technologies and Concepts
- Object-Oriented Programming
- Recursion
- State Machines
- The Second-System Effect
Using real data
A classic content-centered web page featuring 3rd-party data and web dev fundamentals. Client side scripting with jQuery utilizing AJAX requests and the DOM API to deliver a smooth, dynamic user experience.
Key Technologies and Concepts
- jQuery
- Bootstrap
- 3rd Party API Usage
- Promises and Callbacks
Putting CSS to the test
The culmination of my learning in HTML and CSS, this is a recreation of the Jeep.com front page as of Spring 2022. While I later created the same page from scratch again using Bootstrap, this version uses only plain HTML and CSS.
Key Technologies and Concepts
- CSS
- Responsive Layouts
View a list of the software, design and business related books I've enjoyed reading. Note: This section is a WIP.
Collaborative Coding
After talking with some friends about our desire for more in-person hackathons and other opportunities to practice collaborative development in Austin, TX, I decided to try creating some opportunities to do so on my own.
The first of these so far was the "ACM Widgets Challenge" in April, 2024. I was given a conference room and 2 hours of time during the Austin Code Mentorship meetup that month. I wanted to get experience holding a hackathon-like event on a small scale, but knew I needed to optimize our time.
I built a web project where participants could group up and build small isolated web components, which could then be brought into one site with minimal friction. If you're curious what that looked like, read the template repository's readme.
I gave a short presentation to set expectations and introduce them to the project before we quickly got on to building. I floated between teams helping explain how to interact with the template and with general development.
I was able to observe the participants to get a better idea of what to expect from giving a timed coding problem to multiple groups and see the gaps in my preparation. Some not unexpected hiccups aside, I enjoyed helping the teams and seeing what they made. We had three widgets: an animated rotation of ACM-related QR codes, a form for adding ACM attendees to the database, and the cheeky team who bent the rules with a widget that actually created a separate widget for every attendee.
I hope to be organizing a larger event in the near future!
A little more about me
Software isn't the only thing I'm interested in. I love learning languages (currently Dutch, previously Japanese and French), finding and curating new music, cooking, reading and have a black belt in 7 Star Praying Mantis Kung Fu.
Video games have been a constant in my life as well. Some favorites include The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for its immersive world, Europa Universalis IV for its systemic complexity in gradual, long term campaigns and Dark Souls for its exploration and satisfying accumulation of skill and knowledge.
I also love to travel, and have independently planned and financed trips to Europe, Connecticut, Washington D.C. and New York since 2017. In my three European trips I've visited the Czech Republic and Poland, toured France and Croatia and spent plenty of quality time with my friends in the regional cities of the Netherlands - my favorite country.
Poreč, Croatia near the I get the most satisfaction when I can use my knowledge to support others, and so am always looking for opportunities to help out, share ideas and teach. Sometimes that aid comes in the form of solitary diligence, preparing something great you can present to others.