Johnathan James' Resume

Johnathan E. James

Atlanta, GA

jjames at haxwell dot org

Objective

To become a key team asset as a software developer working with an object oriented language such
as Java, C++ or C#.

Summary

A creative problem solver who takes pride in getting the job done correctly, on time and at cost. Has significant experience with C++, Java, C#, MTS/COM/COM+, J2EE/EJB. Also has great experience in SQL, XML, and Swing. A Sun Certified Java Programmer with excellent skills in Object Oriented Analysis and Design. Possesses a deep understanding of the processes of creating first-rate software.

Experience

MediaOcean	Atlanta, GA	April 2005 - Present
Programmer

Glowing descriptions of my activities at this wonderful company are pending..

AFLAC	Columbus, GA	July 2004 - March 2005
Programmer		Contract Position

Developer on a flagship company product called SmartApp: Next Generation. Written in C#, using
Visual Studio .NET, it allowed sales agents to automate the application process for hundreds of
AFLAC insurance products. SNG used SQL Server for database support, and MQSeries queues in
its backend data processing.
Advocated many time saving processes, including firm development schedules, third party defect and
enhancement tracking tools, automated daily builds, code documentation, tight source control
management, and more.
Using Borland C++ 4.52, provided maintenance on a proprietary Windows 16 bit application called
Premium Quote. Within a day, grasped the concept of the major upgrades, and thus was able to finish
development ahead of schedule and well below projected cost.

SourceCorp	Denver, CO	Dec. 2003 - Feb. 2004
Programmer		Contract Position

Using Borland C++ Builder 4 and 6, provided maintenance on a variety of projects. These included
mission-critical document imaging applications that need modifications with quick turnaround times,
to tools that automated manual, time-consuming processes.
Began a process to use a Wiki, open source collaboration software, to document all the homegrown
applications created by the company. The documentation included program’s purpose, parameters,
registry and INI entries, databases used, among other helpful pieces of information. This was a large
undertaking, as previously, there was no developer documentation available for any program that we
were maintaining.

First Data Corporation	Denver, CO	Sep. 2003 - Oct. 2003
Programmer		Contract Position

Using Borland C++ Builder 6, implemented upgrades to the RemitONE/Tax-Epay product. These
included modifications to the database using the Borland Database Engine, and designing new reports
in QuickReports.
Initiated a re-write of the RemitONE/Tax-EPay product in Visual Studio .NET, using C#. This involved
redesigning and creating new classes to allow better separation of responsibilities between classes.
This made the code more easily maintainable and extendable. Also redesigned the BDE database,
using the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 desktop engine to create a fully normalized schema.

The biggest accomplishment here was a class design that tied together the security permissions with
the menu options, storing the information in the MSDE database. Using it, what was a laborious task
to add new menu items and their permissions became a quick change that did not require a recompile
of the software.

CARL Corporation	Denver, CO	Nov. 2001 - Sep. 2003
Programmer

C++ developer on a team that is responsible for several products. The applications are all for library
automation; from the back door where the ordered books come in to the front door where the patron
leaves with their books, CARL's software automates that process.
Solely designed and implemented an overhaul of the installers for our products using a free, open
source tool called Nullsoft Installation System. The design allowed new product installers to be
created quickly by using common code from previous installers.
Implemented and advocated processes to increase the team’s productivity such as
- precompiled headers to significantly decrease project build times,
- a project file structure to add a self-documenting nature to the project’s files,
- automated daily builds and tighter SourceSafe management to decrease time developers
  spent on these tasks, and..
- bug tracking software to increase the effectiveness of communication between developers and
  QA.

Quark / Mirim	Denver, CO	Oct. 1999 -- Sept. 2001
Software Engineer II

Developed a framework for our client tier that would allow all forms to operate in a uniform manner,
thereby removing the need to write common code multiple times. This framework was written and
designed in Java and .NET’s C#. It included designs and algorithms for client-side caching, and
multithreaded data access to speed up the client’s operation. The framework also included an
innovative design for using a SQL database to manage data column information on a form by form basis.
This was fully documented with UML sequence, class and collaboration diagrams.
Designed and implemented methods for our COM and RMI Business tiers, which used ODBC, JDBC,
ADO and ADO .NET for access and SQL and MDX to query our Data Tier.
Implemented the installers for our entire product. Using InstallShield products, I wrote code to register
custom COM/MTS components, adjust classpaths, and all other actions necessary to install the Data,
Web, Business and Client Tiers.
Served as a point of reference for four junior developers on things such as the best way to implement
certain code, or where to prioritize their efforts.

Columbine JDS	Denver, CO	Feb. 1997 -- Oct. 1999
Programmer

Developed the data loading process for MART, the company's Oracle based data warehousing tool.
Designed the extracted data schema, and the code to pull it from our legacy AS/400 systems.
Using UML and Rational Rose, I created the object designs to allow MART to mimic how the data was
represented.
Updated the Salesline product to use recent practice in Standard C++ and Object Oriented Design.
Prior to these, after completing an intensive 14-week training program, I provided technical support for
the company's proprietary AS/400 software, Columbine. Put very simply, the software allowed radio and
TV stations to track the commercial time they aired.

Teletech USA -- Compuserve WOW!	Denver, CO	Jan. 1996 -- Jan. 1997
Technical Support Agent

Served as a lead agent for Customer Service to help reduce phone congestion by providing quick
answers to questions on every aspect of the WOW! product.
Answered email messages from WOW! Members. Topics ranged from “How Do I Download?”
to “I Keep Getting Illegal Operations in…”. I was consistently one of the top producers in my team.
Helped other members of my team implement different strategies and programs to increase their
speed and productivity personally and for the team overall.

Open Source Projects	Denver, CO	Ongoing
Developer / Architect

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source for a definition of Open Source.

Selftest (http://sourceforge.net/projects/selftest) - This is a project I started and coded in its entirety.
It is an XML-aware Java based tool that automates testing. The editor portion is full featured,
including a custom class design to support undo/redo. Selftest allows users to create exams with
multiple choice and short answer questions. It will grade the exam, and optionally allow the user to
see comments on why an answer was correct or incorrect. The code is an elegant example of
extensible, object-oriented design.

In the next version, it will be a full three-tiered application with a server, possibly using EJB, and a SQL
database, all communicating over RMI.
Frint - Find/Replace In Text Files (http://www.haxwell.org/frint) - A command line tool to quickly find and
replace strings in text files, without the need to learn another language.
Squirrel-SQL (http://sourceforge.net/projects/squirrel-sql) - A Java program using Swing that will allow
you to view the structure of a JDBC compliant database, browse the data in tables, issue SQL
commands etc. I contributed two features to this project, one an Ant build target to build the Javadoc
for the project, and two, a bug fix related to sorting re-sequenced columns.
LimeWire (http://www.limewire.org) - A Gnutella based peer-to-peer application written in Java with
superior searching and downloading technologies. I contributed a feature that allows users to restart
their searches automatically without re-entering query information.

Education and Training

Completed my Sun Certification as a Java Programmer on January 2, 2002.

Will be continuing my education in pursuit of my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science in 2005.

Completed Microsoft Certified Course 1012, Mastering COM Development Using Visual C++. I have
also completed Sun Microsystems Course Enterprise JavaBeans Programming and InstallShield Course
Advanced InstallShield Professional Windows Installer Edition.

Published Writings

James, Johnathan E., 2004, HOWTO: Running Azureus in Eclipse. Describes the step by step process
for downloading the code for the Open Source project Azureus from CVS and running it in the Eclipse IDE.

http://azureus.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/UsingEclipse