Dimi - remote backend programmer of Elixir, Ruby, Go, Clojure

Personal details:

• Name: Dimitar Panayotov.
• Location: Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Work format: Remote only. Full time, part time, contracting.

Experience:

• 3 years C and C++.
• 8 years with Java.
• 6 years with Javascript, Ruby (+ Rails), PHP, Go.
• Overlapping during the last 2 years: Elixir. Mostly GraphQL-enabled API gateways and small amount of Phoenix. Crawler projects, hobby projects about data gathering and transormations, moderate interest in blockchain tech.

Future interests and current trainings:

• Clojure and Racket mostly (both are LISP dialects).
• Want to become better at Go but it’s not a high priority item.
• Want to learn much more about algorithms and data structures, and as much as I can about functional programming.
• Absolutely everything about distributed logic, consensus and data.

Area of expertise:

Backend and some sysadmin work. I worked years on the frontend as well but grew to dislike it and drifted away – I am still quite well informed there but I have no interest in being a dedicated frontender. My forte is the backend: servers, gateways, relays, proxies, bots, crawlers, automatons.

Portfolio / GitHub:

Zero open-source contributions. I regret that a lot and I am planning to change it. Always been so busy but I finally want to give something back. Stay tuned for updates. It will very likely be related to distributed tech or something that Elixir core does not have yet.

Bio:

• Zealous about automation. Seeing people pitter-patter their way to productivity in Excel drives me nuts. This is what us the programmers are for! There are literally trillions of bucks out there in uncaptured value due to lack of automation. We can and should change that.
• Integration and interoperability have always been a favourite. I simply love tying systems together. It’s like a hobby, I enjoy doing it even if it is extremely hard.
• Project evolution and refactoring are practically a speciality. I’ve done it many times in Java, PHP, Ruby and Javascript, and I am looking forward to doing it more in Elixir and a few LISP dialects. As above, it’s just something that I enjoy. It’s often very hard and dirty work but I do it with a smile (most of the time).
• Optimization: this is not requested very often but when it is, I am first on the queue.
• Standartization. I am way past my ego-points-pumping period and I prefer “boring” but standard tech that gets the job done and does not surprise people.
• Distributed tech: databases, append-only logs, global datastructures, blockchain, planetary-wide filesystems – I am a fan of all of these and would like to learn and do more with them.
• Research and development: There are not many employers out there who pay for R&D but it’s something I have been wanting to explore more ever since I was a teenager.

Career plans:

Mostly to have several small consultancies and build a sustainable business around them. I haven’t had problems finding jobs whenever – senior programmers are always in demand – but finding the right job for me has always been harder. The search goes on.

// Dimi.