About me
This page is all about what I can do as a multimediadeveloper. I decided to present this data to you with the help of sortable tables, so you can find the information you want quickly. Covered here are the programming languages I know with an indication of my skill in that particular language. Following that, my areas of personal interest and expertise. Lastly, there's a list of programs, API's, IDE's and SDK's I'm familiar with. This page contains a lot of technical abbreviated terms, you can find out their meaning by moving your mouse over them.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
Personal
These are the things I have focused on in the past and describe what sort of things are important to me when developing content. It also lists a few things I consider sellingpoints.
- Usability and Accessibility
In the years I developed an interest in the usability and accessibility of websites and webtechnologies, especially for people that have impairments. As a graduation project I researched the accessibility of Flash mediaplayers on websites for visually impaired people. It turns out accessibility is an often overlooked aspect by webdevelopers. It's looking like HTML 5 is paving the way for improved online acccessibility. I always try to develop my websites respecting the W3C Standards.
- Personal development and keeping up-to-date
As a webdeveloper you need to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and improvements. It's essential that you keep educating yourself to stay ahead of the competition.
Programming
Here's an overview of the programming and scripting languages I'm familiar with. For readability I'm keeping the information to the point, if you want to know more I suggest you check out Wikipedia.
| Programming Language | Skill level | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Javascript | 3 - Medium | The scripting language used mostly on the web. Not at all comparable to Java. I'm pretty familiar with it. |
| JQuery | 5 - Excellent | JQuery is a Javascript library helping webdevelopers tremendously simplifying manipulating the DOM of webpages and setting up AJAX-communications. It also eliminates the need for programmers to write specific solutions for different browsers. Jquery is used in this website as well. |
| PHP/MySQL | 5 - Excellent |
PHP is one of the most forgiving scripting languages I've ever programmed in. Really easy to get into, but takes long to master. You could call MySQL (a relational database management system) a good friend of PHP, since it's often used for PHP-driven websites that require dynamic data.
Known frameworks: CakePHP and Drupal. |
| Actionscript 2.0 | 4 - Good | Most of the Flash programming projects in my portfolio are written in Actionscript 2. |
| Actionscript 3.0 | 3 - Medium | The next generation version of Actionscript. It differs so much from Actionscript 2 that the code runs in it's own virtual machine. It's heavily object-oriented. I'm familiar with it but didn't do big projects in Actionscript 3. |
| Java | 1 - Beginner | I recently introduced myself to Java as a webprogramming language. I played around with it a bit using Eclipse, a multi-language software development environment along with the Google Web Toolkit (GWT). It takes a little time getting used to, but in the end it's a wonderful solution for the development of web applications. |
| C# | 1 - Beginner | I've always been interested in game development. At first using QBasic, later moving on to Flash, and in 2010 I decided it was about time I familiarized myself with C#. I stumbled upon the Microsoft XNA Framework, and spent some time playing around with it. |
| HTML/XHTML | 5 - Excellent |
For years now I programmed for the web. When developing websites my goals are easy maintainability, reusable code, conforming to webstandards and ensuring accessibility for everyone. That's why I'm using XHTML Strict DTD's for most of the websites I develop. Furthermore I keep myself up to date with the latest developments on the Internet. I'm using CSS3 in this site, I'm familiar with HTML5 and I can only conclude that the future is looking bright for webdevelopers and people who are using websites, with or without a handicap. (one of the great things HTML 5 can bring is better accessibility for people that use assistive technologies like screenreaders to surf the Internet) |
| XML | 3 - Medium | XML (eXtensible Markup Language) looks a lot like HTML. It's a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. I'm familiar with XML-structures and know how to work with them in Flash/Actionscript (for example, importing and loading playlists in a music player) |
Design/Movies/3D
Ofcourse programming isn't the only part of deal being a multimedia-specialist. It's also about design, creating graphics, editing images and more. Here's a list of programs I'm familiar with.
| Program | Type | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Illustrator | Vector Graphics Editor | I use this program sporadically, but I'm familiar with it. |
| Adobe Photoshop | Graphics Editing Program | I use it regularly to create transparent png's or just to edit photographs I've taken myself. Very powerful program with loads of options. |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Video Editing Program | Did some editing in it for personal use and for my fictional Chicago Beats trailer. |
| 3D Studio Max | 3D Computer Graphics | I know the basics, I created some 3D content during the education (for example the vinyl in my Chicago Beats trailer). |
| Irfanview | Image viewer/editor | I use this excellent free program for viewing pictures and basic editing/resizing of pictures. Also supports batch conversion and renaming of images. |
API's, IDE's and SDK's
Sure, you can program only using a text editor. However, in my opinion good development environments are essential for a good programming workflow, so I usually use those. I'm a keen user of libraries and plugins when programming, it saves the programmer work and maximizes productivity.
| Name | Type | Level | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Dreamweaver | DE | 3 - Familiar territory | I usually use Dreamweaver to develop my websites. It's an application with lots of handy tools, but I mostly use it as a text-editor deluxe. |
| Google Web Toolkit (GWT) | SDK | 1 - Getting aquainted | I used the GWT when familiarizing myself a bit with Java webdevelopment. |
| Google Maps API | SDK | 1 - Getting aquainted | I know how to interact with this API and do things with it. |
| Eclipse | Multilanguage DE | 1 - Getting aquainted | Eclipse is a multi-language software development environment. It takes a little time getting used to, but in the end it's a wonderful solution for the development of web applications (for example with Java). |
| Adobe Flash | IDE | 3 - Familiar territory | Most of the Flash programming projects in my portfolio are written in Actionscript 2. This is also why me and the Flash IDE are good friends. When I moved on to a more object oriented (OO) approach of programming, the Actionscript editor in this IDE didn't really do the job anymore. That's why I nowadays do my Actionscript programming in FlashDevelop. |
| FlashDevelop | DE | 2 - Use it regularly | At the moment I use the excellent free-to-use FlashDevelop, which can be hooked up to Flash and functions as a full fledged development environment for Actionscript. |
| Microsoft Visual C# 2008 | DE | 1 - Getting familiar | I experimented a little with C# in Microsoft Visual C# 2008 along with the Microsoft XNA Framework, that eliminates the need for developers to 'write repetive boilerplate code' and focus on the actual game instead. |
