About

Hey, I’m Rob, a full stack developer specializing in web applications. I’m a full stack engineer and utilize my skills to fulfill multiple roles. Mostly I write code, but before that I often need to setup databases, servers, DNS records, etc. I write modular, tested, and documented code. Even when speed is primary I find the time to come back and finish what I started. My goal is always to write code for myself 6 months in the future. I have twenty-three years of experience helping build up development teams. As things progress and the development team expands I enjoy working with and mentoring other developers.

Outside of work I find myself frequently coding a solution to annoyances and problems I find. Automating away the pain is one of the joys of being a developer.

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Relevant Experience

Senior development team lead with experience building web application software and guiding startup development teams.

Experience

  1. Staff Software Engineer, LearnLux, Inc.
  2. Senior Software Engineer, Sober Grid, Inc.
  3. Chief Technology Officer, sixQ
  4. Senior Software Engineer, True Impact, Inc.
  5. Software Development Engineer, Tervela, Inc.
  6. Senior Software Engineer, Happier, Inc.
  7. Product Manager, SiteSpect, Inc.
  8. Advanced Solutions Engineer, SiteSpect, Inc.
  9. Senior Web Developer, RPM Communications
  10. Senior Developer, Workflow By Design

Education

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Bachelor of Science Degree, Computer Science

Skills

  • Linux, MacOS, Unix, Docker, Terraform
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Firebase, Microsoft Azure
  • Apache, Nginx, Node, Express.js, Nest.js, Next.js
  • JSONAPI, OpenAPI Specification (Swagger), GraphQL
  • Python, Flask, Jinja, FastAPI, Django, Wagtail CMS
  • pip, pipenv, npm, Homebrew, pytest, Pylint, Ruff, Pyright, Mypy, Black
  • MySQL, sqlite, MongoDB, PostgreSQL
  • CSS, HTML, SASS/SCSS, Bootstrap, Material
  • TypeScript, Angular, ESLint, Stylelint, React, JavaScript
  • Sublime Text, SublimeLinter
  • Bash, Awk, Grep, Sed, ShellCheck, Regular Expressions
  • git, Github, Bitbucket, Gitlab, Jira
  • Product & Project Management, Development Team Leadershipt & Management

Complete CV

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Projects

All of my programming projects utilize open source code. I prefer to build applications for the web using RESTful APIs, HTML, and CSS. Native apps have their place, but for the most part if it can be done using a browser then that is how I prefer to do it.

Project Repositories

BrainFry Quiz App
Designing, developing and documenting a modern web application using Angular, Firebase, and Terraform.
rob.gant.ninja
Code for this website.
saas-api-boilerplate
Boilerplate setup for SaaS JSONAPI in Python using Flask & SQLAlchemy.
homedir
OS X Home Directory Files documenting how I setup my environment.
APODDownloader
Download the Astronomy Picture of the Day Every Day. Keeping only the most recent 100.
Dotfiles and Home Directory Stuff
My setups for MacOS / Bash shell.
Music Playlists
The goal is to never hear the same song in a day. Music services seem engineered to thwart that. Lets see what I can do. (WIP)

Most of my work is published in my GitHub Account.

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Tips and Tricks

Life is quickly becoming a software problem; which is great because I like fixing software problems. Here are some of the tweaks I’ve made to make things a bit better for me.

User.js Scripts

GreaseMonkey Scripts I use to make the website I visit a bit better for me.

Customize Miniflux
Modify the styles, add some giant navigation bars on posts, and add shortcut to open articles in a new tab.
Fix Fark
Automatically navigate to article when opening link in new tab. Enable keyboard navigation for comments.
Fix Reddit
Hide annoying banners. Set links to default to old.reddit.com domain. Open posts in a new tab. Enable keyboard navigation for posts. Remove uninteresting subreddits from list pages. Fix the search default to the current subreddit.
Fix Wirecutter
Un-lazyload images so I don’t need to enable JS on this site. Try to make the header static so it doesn’t takeover my window.
Remove AMP & Tracking
Remove the tracking codes from URLs so I can share clean links. Attempt to de-AMP links again for better sharing.
Remove Amazon Tracking
Amazon links are quite ugly, remove that garbage so I can share clean links.
Other User Scripts
Other minor scripts that don’t do much interesting but still make my web browsing more enjoyable.

Other Customizations

Always Show Reader Mode Icon
Reader mode in Firefox is great, but it’s a bit too conservative when deciding preemptively that it cannot handle a page. This CSS always shows the button which will work most of the time.
Symlink Configuration Folders
Firefox and Sublime Text both store important customizations in folders buried deep in the disk. But on UNIX-y environments you can symlink the folders to other locations. For example a git repository tracking your settings:
ln -s $PATH_TO_REPO/user.js $PATH_TO_FF_PROFILE/user.js
ln -s $PATH_TO_REPO/chrome $PATH_TO_FF_PROFILE/chrome
ln -s $PATH_TO_REPO/User $PATH_TO_SUBLIME_PACKAGES/User
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Organizations I Support

I’ve supported the EFF for over a decade. They work to support Network Neutrality, Internet security, and Internet Privacy. I’m proud to use HTTPS Everywhere and Privacy Badger extensions in my browsers. They also help create the Let’s Encrypt Certbot tool that I’ve used to setup my web applications under HTTPS.

I’ve long supported Mozilla through my use of the Firefox browser, and I also support the Mozilla Foundation. Like the EFF, Mozilla works to create an open internet usable by everyone. I develop web applications so it is vital to me that the internet be a place innovation thrives. Through my support I hope to help keep the internet from walled gardens and mono-cultures.

As an American I believe that the ACLU is a vital part of our democracy. My donations to the ACLU and ACLU Foundation protect my and all Americans’ civil liberties. It is not always easy to defend the Constitution, and I support those that do this vital work.

I believe that the Southern Poverty Law Center provides important services to my country by shining a light on the hate that is attempting to infest our society. Tolerance and justice aren’t things that just happen, but causes that we must champion. Through my support I hope to promote civil rights and legal reforms that will benefit everyone.

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