So I haven't been very good about keeping up on this blog. I guess it's because I haven't been in the habit of writing the past several years. Back in the day, though, I was quite good at it. It's also due to the fact that I've been struggling to find the "perfect topic" to write about each time. I've felt the need to maintain a certain level of professionalism, as this website also (as it currently stands) serves as a gateway to my Infonate Web Services company. At some point, when the time/financial resources are available, I'll completely separate that out. For now, though, I think I'll just not worry about it too much and write for myself, as has been suggested by others. It does seem that this is becoming less and less of an issue in general.
To get back into the habit of writing, I've decided it would be worthwhile to write about how I got to where I am today. To give this post some sense of coherence, the focus will be on my personal history in terms of computer science and web development. I'll do my best to stay on topic (that's what a writer is supposed to do, isn't it?).
I wish I could say that I started tinkering with computers when I was just a lad of around 7 or 8. It seems more often than not that I hear of other programmers who say they started way back then, hacking away on a Commodore 64 or something similar. My interests at that age consisted primarily of being intrigued by what the future might hold (especially new technologies) as well as trying to figure out how things work. While those interests have helped to pave the way to my chosen field, it wasn't until high school that I had any real hands on experience with computers or programming. When you're young, you're very much in your own world. Even as you get older, sometimes you just don't know what you don't know. Looking back, I do feel I would have benefited greatly had I had an exposure to the world of computing earlier on.
I started programming in the 12th grade after signing up to take the Advanced Programming class my school offered. There was a new teacher for the class and I was very much looking forward to it. I had started to teach myself some "C" programming using the "Teach Yourself C in 21 Days" book prior to the beginning of the semester. What was great about this new instructor was he let us learn whatever we wanted, as long as it related to programming. I decided to study C and Visual Basic. I wrote some games and screen savers. This was over ten years ago so the exact details of my accomplishments are a bit hazy. One accomplishment that does stand out is the effect I and the 6 other guys (yes, it was all males that year) had on the future of the class. When the new teacher was hired, he was hired primarily to handle the school's network and to teach programming for one year; then the school was going to do away with the class. After a while, other students began to see all the cool things we were coding and interest started to grow. The class has since expanded exponentially in terms of size and they've delved into AI and networking. I've stopped in from time to time in the years since and what Adrian Sebborn's students have been up to is remarkable. On top of all that, they now actually earn college credit for completing the course. I like to think that I and the 6 others in that class during the 1997-1998 year had a great deal to do with how far it's come and that our presence that year was a great benefit to the school community.
For college, I wanted to keep things simple. I noticed how other students were applying to a bunch of schools and having trouble deciding which to choose. My criteria was pretty simple. I knew I wanted to go to school in Boston and I knew I wanted to major in Computer Science. So when I applied to Wentworth Institute of Technology and got accepted with a Merit Scholarship, my decision was made.
I started at WIT in 1998. Hard to believe it was that long ago. The college experience itself was pretty typical. The primary courses I took included C/C++, Java, Algorithms, Programming Languages, Operating Systems, Databases, Graphics Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Software Engineering. A couple of the classes involved completing large projects that students worked on throughout the semester. For one, I lead a team of 4 developing a Java-based project management system. For the other, another student and I developed a Neural Network. I haven't done anything involving neural nets whatsoever since then, so don't ask me to explain it. It was a good project, though. I completed my degree in approximately 4 years. It wasn't exactly 4 years because of the required co-op. Sophomore year the co-op was optional, but I decided I might as well do it for the experience. The summer of that year I moved back home during those months and got a job in town working for a local web development company called Spectrum Design. Web development wasn't exactly the focus for my degree, but I did have some experience with it. That co-op was really the first job of its type that I had. Since then there's been an explosion of new technologies and advancements in the field. Web development is something I enjoy doing and it's great that there's still so much to explore, as overwhelming as that can be at times. I believe, though, that my formal education in programming is a great asset even if I'm not doing much C/C++ or algorithm design. The foundation I received in how to properly develop software (desktop or web) has absolutely made me a better, more pragmatic, web developer.
The next co-op I had was in the Boston area at Charles River Analytics. The experience I had there was fantastic. I reported to a man by the name of Thom Goodsell, from whom I learned a great deal. CRA develops intelligent systems and software as contracted by NASA and the JPL. The project I worked on during my time there was for the Mars Rover II and I programmed primarily in Java and Python. When I started, Python was brand new to me. Thom had seen on my resume that I enjoyed learning about new languages; so he told me to learn it for the project. The next couple of weeks that's pretty much what I did - study Python from books and online resources. Eventually I became versed enough to put it to use. I used this new language to develop a convex hull algorithm that was eventually passed along to the scientists and converted from Python to Java as part of the overall system. In addition to that work, I was also involved in some of the research for upcoming projects. Several years later I am still in fairly constant contact with Thom, who has since moved on to other ventures, as well as someone by the name of Kurt Shuster. Kurt started there full time during my co-op semester and we've remained friends since then. Thom is currently the CTO at True Apparel Company and Kurt is the CEO of Noomii, a website currently in beta that's based on the concept of pair coaching.
So that's my story up through college. I had originally planned this post to go from the beginning until present day, but it's getting quite long so I've decided to break it up into two posts. Such a cliff hanger, I know. See ya soon.
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