Shaun Cave | Web Developer

I'm a full-stack Web Developer in Chicago, IL.

I spent the first professional decade of my life running video cameras, switchers, audio mixers, and editing; development is my second career. I came to it after moving to Chicago in pursuit of a master's in computer graphics at DePaul (my bachelor's is from Carolina). To my surprise, the curriculum focused more on programming than modeling. I took the skills I learned and started freelancing. That was about 10 years ago. I’ve been developing ever since.

For the last four years I’ve held a full-time position as Software Developer with the Radiological Society of North America. I spend most of my days working in JavaScript and PHP. Web development continues to evolve at an amazing pace, and I’ve found blogging to be the best way to express myself. I like to learn, and that’s all you do in this industry, so it works for me.

In general, I prefer full-stack development. I find the breadth of knowledge and experience required makes freelancing much easier. I can develop API’s, build front-end features, and/or integrate third party platforms into existing apps. I find that rewarding.

Front-end Development

I build single page web applications using Vue.js. For CSS and responsive design, I use Bootstrap.

Back-end Developement

I write Node, PHP, and ColdFusion on the back-end. For frameworks, I use ExpressJs with Node, Slim with PHP, and FuseBox with ColdFusion. Most of my ColdFusion projects are sans-framework, however. For API planning, Apiary is my tool of choice.

Cloud Infrastructure

My cloud platforms are AWS (S3 and PHP SDK) and Google (Firebase and Functions). I use AWS at work, and Google for freelance.

Database Development

I use SQL and MySQL relational databases; I'm learning Mongo, on the NoSQL-side. I also build SQL Server Reports.

Virtualization

I use VirtualBox and Vagrant for virtual environments.

Linux/Apache

I use the LAMP stack at home and work. I'm comfortable configuring Apache and navigating a Linux (Ubuntu) box.

Automation

I use Gulp, Bash, and NPM scripts for automation. I'm learning Webpack.

Version/Source Control

I'm a Git and Bitbucket guy: most of my repos are private. I do have a Github page, however.

I'm

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