Cover Letter
Interests
My main area of expertise is software development in Delphi and Windows, and web development in PHP and Perl. I’m interested in increasing my experience in .NET, especially C#, for which I’m willing to take more junior roles as I get up to speed. I have twenty years experience as a programmer with a strong focus on user-friendly, reliable, accessible software and websites, and I excel at solving problems.
Personal History
I’ve been a professional programmer since the late 1980s, when I began my own business producing software for professional accountants. I’ve worked with Borland Delphi since the first installation CDs arrived in Australia in the mid-1990s, and with HTML and CSS at the front end with PHP and MySQL at the server since the days of Netscape. My focus has always been on usability and reliability, which is why some of my customers have stuck around for nearly twenty years.
Unlike many programmers, I am confident in my use of English, and can communicate well in person and in writing with non-technical users. This is a result of developing software over the years for accountants, shop keepers and office workers, all of whom have better things to do than to decypher the cryptic ravings of computerphiles. I document my systems internally and externally in ways that have garnered rave reviews from co-workers and users.
As a programmer, I call myself a linguophile. I am proficient in about a dozen programming languages but I can find my way around confidently in maybe thirty. These range from the common Algol family (C, C++, C#, Pascal, Perl, Python, JavaScript) through machine language (x86 Assembler, 68000, 6502) to obscure or special-purpose languages like Prolog, XSLT, Forth and Common Lisp. Because every language solves problems in a slightly different way, my experience lets me use methods that a monoglot programmer will never have seen: applying proven Prolog techniques in writing more powerful XSLT templates, for example, or using a Forth threaded interpreter to improve the performance of a Delphi program.
I have used Windows since version 3.0, although most of my recent experience is in Windows XP. I also use Linux in my own personal work, and have been running exclusively on Ubuntu Linux since version 6.10 ("Edgy Eft"). I’ve dabbled with PalmOS, producing some utility software in C, Scheme and Lua. I plan to investigate the Android platform when the Nexus One arrives officially in Australia.
Goals
I enjoy working to solve problems. My standard first question when helping users develop a computerised system is "tell me what you hate about your old system". Computers are tools meant to serve humanity, despite what some computers seem to think! So I focus on fixing what’s broken and finding a better way. The result is that people who use my systems are always happier than they were.
I’ve moved to the Huon Valley from Canberra, planning to buy land and build a life somewhere where my kids can grow up happy. I’d like to find work that will serve that goal: something fun, challenging and useful, where I can make a long-term commitment to helping people.
Contact Me
You can contact me on 0407-468-244. You can also reach me any time by email on paul@poetrysoftware.com.au.