Zak Fenton

I don't use .NET much any more for my own projects (due to legal and technical issues with the platform) but I still know my way around MonoDevelop and Visual Studio. I've read some of the specifications (in particular, ECMA-335). I've also worked on a multi-target source-to-source compiler suite with many similarities to C# (C# was also a target). When I was a teenager I shared some .NET code with Xamarin CEO Miguel de Icaza (he said my old GUI toolkit for Mono was cool).

I've been using GCC for around fifteen years and I'm familiar with all popular variants of the C language (C, C++, Objective C, D). I've developed my own runtimes for C and Objective C. I've developed several experimental operating system kernels in the C language (and intensively studied about a dozen more). I have no problems implementing things like custom printf and malloc functions. I've used C on embedded platforms (Propeller, Arduino, TI/ARM). I've tinkered with clang and Emscripten on a number of occasions.

I'm an expert on the Java platform and have used it to develop many tools and experiments. I've read several versions of the JVM specification and I'm familiar with all language and VM features (up to and including Java 8). I know my way around most of the standard APIs (NIO, Java2D, reflection, collections, strings, etc.) and many popular third-party frameworks (Maven, JUnit, ASM, ANTLR, WebLAF, RSyntaxTextArea, Kahlua, etc.). I'm familiar with all major Java IDEs (Eclipse, NetBeans, IntelliJ IDEA). I've also developed for Android and GWT (but could do with more experience on Java EE). Examples of my work on the Java platform are available on my website (and on my GitHub profile).

At time of writing, my most recent contract was developing a PHP version of some financial calculation software originally written in Excel/VBA. I also use PHP on my own website so I'm familiar with the configuration options.

I have around fifteen years of experience with the Java and Linux platforms (upon which Android is based) and have prototyped multiple Android applications in recent years. My knowledge of Android is far from perfect, but it's definitely within my comfort zone. I charge more for Android work because Android development tools are (still) slower than I am.

Algorithms are my main strength. I'm familiar with all major programming languages and my knowledge of the theoretical/mathematical side is superb. An alpha version of my computer algebra system is available on my website!

While working on my own operating system, TSOS, I've developed drivers for the PCI bus, PS/2 controllers/keyboards/mice and BGA adapters (i.e. VGA for virtual machines). I've also developed user-land drivers for keypads and printers under Linux and OpenBSD. I'm reasonably familiar with kernel development across Unix operating systems (at least, I own and have read a couple of books on the topic). I don't do any low-level work on Windows. I charge more for driver development than I do for regular development because it's very error-prone.