Jeff Horton
Web developer, LARPer, board gamer, geek with a love of mountains
About Me
I’m a full-stack web developer with a decade of professional experience. I have worked with multiple languages and frameworks, including Javascript with React, PHP with Laminas, Java with Spring Boot. I have been involved in the full software delivery lifecycle: Researching requirements and producing prototypes for user feedback, developing and testing applications; then deploying, monitoring, and supporting them in production.
Outside of work I play a lot of tabletop games, and take part in Live Action Roleplay. As part of these have written a number of small personal projects including character management systems, and mock futuristic computer interfaces for Sci-Fi games. I use these to experiment with other technologies that I can then introduce to my professional work where appropriate. Recently these have included Rust,, Scala with Play Framework, MongoDB, and containerisation with Docker.
Professional Experience
Software Developer - UK Home Office, Sheffield
July 2021 - Present
Working as part of an agile team to transfer building an application in-house from external contractors. There were two months of knowledge transfer, and we have since developed missing functionality and successfully released an MVP.
- A frontend built with the Next.js React framework, communicating with a Java backend built with the Spring Boot framework.
- Jest, React Testing Library, and JUnit are used for unit testing, plus Cucumber and Selenium for End-to-End testing.
- Using the ELK stack, and Grafana for logging and monitoring.
- Integration with AWS services, and a third-party case-working system.
- A Jenkins based CI/CD pipeline to automate testing, building, and deploying the application.
I am also an active member of the developer community at the Home Office. I’m a member of the ways of working guild, a group of engineers who research and publish standards and guidance for developers at the Home Office. I’ve been involved in assessing applications, technical tests, and interview panels as part of the Home Office recruitment process.
Senior Developer - High Tech Click, Sheffield
January 2012 - July 2021
Working as part of a small team using agile methodologies, I developed, maintained and worked with a number of systems for HTC’s main client. This client sells a wide range of products on ecommerce websites and third-party marketplaces. We had a close working relationship with our users to ensure that these applications meet their needs.
- A product, stock, and order management system. Written in PHP 7.4, using Laminas MVC Framework, with React, JQuery, and Less in the frontend, and using MySQL and Postgres databases, and Apache Kafka for streaming data.
- Integrations with third-party APIs, including eBay, Amazon MWS, and a bespoke ecommerce platform.
- A goods in and order dispatch system. Written in Java using Apache Pivot. This communicates with the management system over a JSON based REST API.
- A library for background processing in PHP. This included inter-process communication managed by a RabbitMQ server. On top of that I built task scheduling, and invariant monitoring libraries, and a system that used websockets for browser push notifications.
Second Line Support Engineer - Legend Club Management, York
MARCH 2009 - DECEMBER 2011
- Support clients of a bespoke gym management software suite over phone and email.
- Support a remote desktop platform using Citrix, Windows, and bundled Microsoft Apps.
- Build custom Microsoft SQL Server scripts for reporting and bulk updates.
Education
York University - BSc Computer Science
OCTOBER 2002 - JUNE 2005
- Courses in database design, project management, concurrency and distributed systems, compilers, game theory, and artificial intelligence.
- Final year project on using genetic algorithms to develop stream classifiers.
- Languages used include Java, Prolog, and Scheme.
Salt Grammar School, Bradford
SEPTEMBER 1997 - JULY 2002
- A level: Maths(A), Further Maths(A), Chemistry(A) and Biology(A). Computing AS (A).
- GCSE: 9 A* to C including Maths(A*), Sciences(A*, A*, A) and English(A, B).
I am studying towards the AWS Certified Developer qualification.
I have a full, clean UK driving licence.
Other Information
- To celebrate turning thirty I climbed ninety peaks in a year. I recorded the challenge at www.peak-challenge.co.uk. Many of the updates were posted from my phone as I hiked.
- For my attempt at the 2021 Advent of Code I used GitHub Actions and GitHub pages to automatically publish my solutions to https://kamioftea.github.io/advent-of-code-2021/.
- For a Sci-Fi game I wrote a mock dashboard and communications system. This included a hacking game backed by Akka actors simulating fake server and account activity.
- I have helped organise successful weekend live action role-play events for fifty people, including involvement in the planning, administration, logistics, and promotion required for these.
- I have a varied collection of board games and table-top RPGs, and organise gaming evenings with colleagues after work.
References can be provided on request