James is a frontend developer who started with us almost 2 years ago (that’s like 14 in dev years!). Since we’re all about equal opportunity, James managed to land the job despite a lack of beard. This is very strange and unique for the Splitrock Studio team but we think he’s pretty rad anyway 😉
Meet James …
How long have you been in the biz?
Like everyone I started out young, but I was lucky enough to escape some of the terrible misfortunes of early web development. My first attempts at a html page was using Notepad, eventually upgrading to FrontPage. There was this weird period where I was a part of a group of people who’d make websites to give Photoshop brushes and that kind of thing to people for free. I wanted to be a part of that community, so I’d make new designs every few weeks … I never created content though, so had no visitors. I learned heaps through that constant redevelopment, and eventually a family friend asked me to make his company website when I was in my mid teens. From there it just grew, so I’ve been around for a little while.
Describe your role?
I like to think I sit somewhere between the designers and the designer-less developers. I’m sort of the middle-man in the design process, so I love turning designs into React components, but also love the challenge CSS brings.
What do you enjoy most about web dev?
It’s hard to pick the most enjoyable aspect, but the constant evolution of front end development is great at keeping you on your toes.
Anything you dislike about being a developer?
The answer to this a few years ago was always ‘IE’. At BugHerd, with our recent products, we don’t support old IE and only officially support the latest version. I’m sure there’s other things I dislike, I slam my head against the desk nearly daily at the intricacies that make this job a challenge.
Grand plans at Splitrock Studio?
I’ve learnt so much since starting here, so I’d love to continue doing that. I often consider myself ‘Nathans sidekick’, and that’s because he’s a fantastic teacher. So ultimately, I’d love to just continue growing as a developer, specifically with JavaScript. There’s a few things I’d like to tick off, like become the resident expert in integration tests.
What do you do for kicks/ or on the side?
Personal projects and freelance work used to take up most of my time outside work. I’ve slowly tried to limit how much coding I do outside of work, so I don’t burn out during the later parts of the week. I love teaching people how to code, so I do that a few nights a week. When at home, I hang out with my dogs and try to run daily. It’s a bit hard to be consistent in the winter months though!
If you weren’t doing this job what would you be doing?
I did a fair bit of manual labor as casual work when I was younger, and I also _started_ an electrical engineering degree. So, I think I’d like to be an electrician.
What are you famous for?
Unfortunately I’m mostly famous for having a foul mouth.
You can connect with James and let him know there is something seriously wrong (or right?) with his screen on twitter @_ojame or Github.
