Web Developer
Web Development is my daily job and something I am highly passionate about. There is nothing I enjoy more than being approached with a business problem or feature request and transforming that idea into code on screen. I consider myself to be an expert front and back-end developer with a keen sense of what works and doesn't in online user interfaces.
My first job out of college at the University of Arizona was a Software Integration Engineer (or Release Engineer to some people). Besides the interesting cross-functional dynamics of this position, I learned how to code fluently in shell scripting and java and web technologies. I grew to really love the front-end side of the web because of its high exposure and propensity for creativity. The back-end is always enjoyable for that hardcore programmer satisfaction it brings but customers only see the front-end and the user experience is what ultimately matters to the business and customers.
I'm a firm believer in adhering to standards. I simply refuse to accept that you can't adhere to standards in every situation. Of course it ultimately depends on the philosophy of the team I am working with but I feel standards have made our lives easier in many ways. To me, standards generally mean better browser and device compatibility and just that overall feeling that you are doing something right with your code.
Ultimately browser compatibility is the most important because you want your site to look good no matter what. I also code for the lowest common denominator, something I believe is good etiquette on the web. Everything I code is backwards compatible without Javascript and if I can do it with CSS I will because there is more support for it. Technologies like flash/flex are great for what they accomplish but they pose significant usability and compatibility issues that need to be evaluated for the task at hand.
I have extensive experience in the back-end side of things and I can work seamlessly with a team of engineers. I am not afraid to dive in and change code and my troubleshooting and debugging skills keep me from getting into trouble. Although I prefer languages like PHP, Python, and Ruby I have a fair amount of Java experience as well.