David Sinclair

Developer & photographer from Encinitas, California.

I have primarily worked on both front and back end JavaScript projects with some exposure to Postgres and MongoDB. I am focused on progressing my back end and database development experience, while maintaining my strengths in front end development. View my resume online or download it. I also have GitHub, LinkedIn, and Stack Overflow accounts to view.

Project Approach

In taking on a new project, it is helpful to have a code or reference to fall back upon. For myself, this is the Ten Principles of Design by Dieter Rams (vitsoe.com). While Rams' principles are not specifically geared towards development, the root concept of a complete, elegant solution still applies. Whether developing a user interface, an API, or anything else, it is important to establish purpose and context to understand how the project will fit into the world around it. In regards to execution, I seek established standards that others can understand. I take pride in my work while always looking to improve my practice.

Some Career Background

I began creating computer-game websites for fun. While in a Political Science undergraduate program and studying for law school, a variety of website design projects seemed to keep attracting my attention. It became clear my future was in design and development, not law. After finishing my bachelor's degree and continuing my education in Graphic Arts, I am now happily involved in the web community, a field I am passionate about.

My Root Cause

An important part of my life is my love for the environment. I am doing what I can to live in a way that promotes sustainable living and leaves nature as untouched as possible. It is important to me that the tools I use, methods for delivery, and any aspect of my design and life is about being in harmony with my surroundings. I find the most beautiful things in life are natural. I strongly encourage making a contribution to helping the environment: adventuring a hike, thinking about your every day life process and what personal changes might help, or donating time and money to an environmental cause. If you need help with your environmental cause, especially web development help, please send me an email! It's on my resume.

What I'm Up To

2024-02-12

After being at REI for a growth year and then two years of layoffs, I find myself grateful to still have a job. At REI, they are still using Vue in combination with the Spring Java framework. I've become slightly more familiar with Spring and much more fluent in Vue 3 and Typescript. I never loved the templating syntax and flow of Vue—having worked with it for a while now, my opinions have not changed much. I think Vue's computed properties are a bit easier to understand and the component structure I appreciate, but JSX remains my favorite templating system, because I like how close to regular JavaScript it remains.

To keep myself invovled in the front-end development world of React and Next.js, I recently converted my personal website to use the new App Router approach. I am liking the layouts and ease of grabbing backend data from server components and generally appreciate the new structure of the app folder, which never quite felt flexible enough in the pages model. I have also converted my site to use CSS Modules, rather than sticking with Emotion, a CSS in JS solution. With the updates, I've changed some fonts, styles, and trimmed the selection of pictures.

2021-07-27

In terms of technology and coding, lately I've been learning Vue for an upcoming role at REI, polishing some Redux skills, and casually working on a website I use to play music—in particular, getting it mobile and iPad friendly.

Aside from coding, I've been hoping for a trip to practice photography in a new location, perhaps Vermont. I've also been playing soccer and enjoying every splash in the ocean.

2020-01-01

Lately I've been learning more about React Native development at Guild Mortgage, where I worked with a team that built an iOS and Android phone application. I had worked on a React Native Android application at Sony, so it was interesting to apply that knowledge to another project. I have found that styling can sometimes be tricky between the different platforms, but in general, basic content and layouts is very transferrable. I've also been continuing to hone my React skills by creating small one-off mobile-friendly websites using Next.js as a base.

Before Guild Mortgage, I was working at Sony Electronics. In my time there I helped create a game for a large electronics event, a golfing application that helped analyze a player's swing, a content management system for a collection phone application, and many other small, but fun, projects.

I do a decent job of keeping up with the latest JavaScript web crazes, even though it's a little crazy to even try. In my spare time I often have a website project or two of my own that help me develop familiarity with new tools and frameworks. Currently I am enjoying React Native Web, Next.js, and React Virtualized. I also have been testing my experience coding Node API endpoints, Postgres databases, MongoDB databases, and all the AWS services I can wrap my brain around.