alan1@conroyhome.net

Not interested in relocating from the Seattle area.

Work Experience

1-2019 to 1-2020 Biblesoft, Des Moines, WA. Sr. Software Engineer.

Wrote a native multi-platform app running on Android, Windows, and MacOS, to replace an older and slower app. Wrote PHP/MySQL code to extract online store data (Prestashop) for calculating and reporting on royalties to replace an obsolete process. Set up wiki for internal documentation, Mailchimp mail list, and new web site.

1-2012 to 1-2019 Biblesoft, Des Moines, WA. Lead Programmer/Analyst.

Responsible for MySQL database design and web server maintenance. Wrote the server-side PHP code, including an administration panel, running on Ubuntu servers in the AWS environment. Implemented web services in PHP, with a Javascript API for the client-side which used AJAX to communicate with the web service, thus isolating the client and server sides so that either could be changed without having to change both. The web service responded to requests using JSON, which the API converted into Javascript objects or values. Wrote functional and regression testing for both the PHP and the Javascript API. Also wrote an API-generator which allows one to create a simple definition file and then have the program generate the PHP web-services handler and the Javascript, Delphi, and C++ API.
Wrote an SGML markup-to-SQL converter in Lazarus running on Windows, which I then used to import large amounts of data into the databases. Wrote extensive technical documentation on all of the above. Supported Prestashop store and other company web sites.
Responsible for all maintenance of the desktop application, written in C++ and Delphi, in addition to all of the technical documentation for it.

2-2000 to 1-2012 Biblesoft, Des Moines, WA. Lead Programmer/Analyst.

Technical lead for a small team of programmers doing maintenance and enhancements of company's product, consisting of over 800,000 lines of code in C++ and Delphi, running on Windows. The user interface was written in Delphi, and included a displayer/editor. The displayer/editor supported bi-directional languages at a time when that wasn't supported by Windows. The back-end was written in C++. Responsible for the UI architecture and coding, and maintenance of all the code, including retrofitting the back-end to compensate for some serious design flaws. Wrote technical documentation, led architecture of enhancements, and set development direction in response to product needs. There was a small amount of code written in assembly as well. Also maintained MS Word macros written in Word BASIC. In addition, I wrote a macro scripting capability for the product for the purposes of regression testing, which eventually came to be used for customizations to the program.

9-1998 to 2-2000 Leap Computer Solutions, Tacoma, WA. Associate Consultant.

Implemented in-place Y2K conversion of a live production database using IDML. Did some C++ and Delphi maintenance consulting.

3-1995 to 8-1998 Biblesoft, Des Moines, WA. Senior Programmer/Analyst.

Responsible for maintenance and enhancements of company's sole product, and generalization of existing code. Primarily responsible for design and implementation of user-customizable front-end for new program. Some maintenance of C++ as well.

3-1989 to 3-1995 Timeline Inc., Bellevue, WA. Programmer/Analyst.

Responsible for developing new software packages, writing documentation, and maintenance programming using C, DEC BASIC (now HP BASIC), VAX assembler, TPU, DCL, CDD, CMS, SMG, and Coverage analysis. Projects included developing Utility Billing software from specifications, Electronic Conferencing software from scratch, maintaining the subroutine library for all products, and upgrading several products through various versions, including creating a 140K line Job Costing system. Created and maintained several hundred pages of technical documentation as well as user's guides. My last project was converting all of the financial packages (about 800,000 total lines of code) to run on OpenVMS on both the VAX and AXP hardware platforms.

3-1988 to 3-1989 Timeline Inc., Bellevue, WA. System Manager.

Responsible for system operations, management, and systems programming on VAX/VMS and PDP-11 (RSTS/E) systems using BASIC and DCL. Major accomplishments included documenting all aspects of communications wiring, telephony, and networking, installing new network capacity and new equipment, upgrading old equipment, designing and overseeing the implementation of hardware and software migration paths, implementing security measures to protect data integrity, and doing cost analysis and ROI research for recommendations to management. Organized and oversaw the hardware and software maintenance and ensured that vendors met their obligations to the company. I created the first on-line disk defragmentor for the RSTS/E operating system.

6-1986 to 7-1987 AMR Information Services, VFS division, Seattle. Operations Manager.

Managed operations staff, implemented a tape management system for BSD UNIX, and did systems programming for UNIX and PDP-11 systems. Converted software from interpreted BASIC-Plus to compiled BASIC.

9-1985 to 5-1986 Seafirst Computer Services Inc., Seattle, WA. Systems Support Analyst.

Hardware troubleshooting, system tuning, training, and systems programming on PDP-11s running RSTS/E.

9-1982 to 9-1985 Seattle Pacific University, Computer Center, System Manager.

Managed operations and student staff of two to six people, and did system programming in assembler, BASIC, C, and Pascal on PDP-11s running RSTS/E. Created a system monitoring and tuning package that I used to maximize system performance. Served as a technical "help desk" for programming staff.

9-1981 to 6-1982 Seattle Pacific University, Computer Center, Academic System Manager (Practicum).

Managed operations for the academic system (a PDP-11 running RSTS/E). Responsible for security, upgrades, harware and software maintenance, and systems programming.