A bit about me

Hi, I'm Gerard. I'm a software engineer, former English teacher, and big nerd.

In 2017 I decided to learn to code. For a few years I crammed in study around work, doing several rounds of the 100DaysOfCode challenge. In 2021 I bit the bullet, did a Higher Diploma in Software Design and Development, and landed a software development internship. That led to my first software engineering role.

These days my professional work focuses on real-time data reporting microservices with Scala, Kafka, and Kubernetes.

I've written tutorials for freeCodeCamp on topics from Kafka to PostgreSQL.

JavaScript was the first programming langauge I learned and I still love it for personal projects. If you're wondering, this is a Next.js site.

I love fantasy and science fiction, once did a PhD on J.R.R. Tolkien, and enjoy playing tabletop role-playing games with my friends and family. If you ever meet me, online or offline, labhair Gaeilge liom 👋.