My various employers, over the years, have made use of – and given me
opportunities to extend – my talents in the following areas:
Computing Languages.
In each context, several:
For products:
C (whose nuances I know in detail),
C++. ForTran and Lisp have had their turns.
For tools:
Bourne and bash shell scripts,
make (particularly the GNU version), python,
perl and a splash of pike. Previously
csh, [gn]?awk and DCL have all served. I take pride
in having written perl which others found easy to maintain and
particular joy in the tools python has enabled me to write.
For document preparation:
(X)HTML and its family, styled with CSS; made
dynamic by ECMAScript or generated dynamically using CGI; and illustrated using
SVG. I haven't yet forgotten how to use TeX and its family.
Operating Systems:
Linux at home and most flavours of Unix at work, at
one stage or another since 1991. Previously, various DEC (VAX) workstations and
mainframes running DCL/VMS.
Communication:
I Listen. This has been a great asset in learning
my way round the various fields into which work has taken me. It regularly
helps in finding the best way to put an idea across to an audience. This
enables me to Explain even quite complex things to those who wish to
understand them.
Flexibility:
I adapt rapidly to new situations and areas of work.
Although I originally trained as a mathematician pursuing my interest in
theoretical physics, I have made my way in the world as a software engineer.
Along the way, as the need has arisen, I have developed extensive skills ranging
from teaching and document preparation to tool and interface design.
In the mean time, I've written many tools for my colleagues to use and
learned how to make effective use of (and re-program) others they were using,
including RCS and, more recently, CVS. My first language is English; I can also
get by in Norwegian – if those talking to me are gentle – and have
been known to speak fluent French, 'though I am severely out of practice. I
also touch-type and control emacs via spinal reflexes.
Written by Eddy.