My name is Robert Jones, and I love to code.
Nicknamed R.J. since I was a baby, and it ended up being the name I usually go by.
Although Ive moved several times in my life, the Pacific Northwest is where I have lived the longest,
and what I had considered home.
I'm...
Crazy about coffee.
Embracing of creativity and the digital arts. And yes, programming is an art form.
Puzzle solver.
Happiest when creating through code.
The first time I became curious about how things work had been when I was very young and had a remote control truck that started malfunctioning.
Since then, I am always taking things apart to fix, modify (or salvage parts from to create new things).
Eventually, this led to a curiosity into what made some hardware 'think'.
The first languages I ever learned were very basic (this was a few years after the Space Jam website)
HTML and Javascript in an after school club in 5th grade and fell in love with it,
applying what I learned to small projects, and contributing to my High School's website when I had gotten older.
Later, I took to learning basic and Java for programming Arduino and Parallax micro controllers to incorporate into hardware-based projects.
After High School, I had attended DMAC for graphic design and 3d computer animation,
and later went to school for audio production,
but found I was more interested in the underlying code that the tools and software utilized to them work.
Granted, the skills learned did come handy in other ways.
Applying my skills in 3d animation and modeling,
as well as my interest in programming, I decided to tackle the unique challenges of 3d printing
shortly after the early-models of DIY and Reprap printers hit the market, purchasing a kit to build and program my own.
Familiarity with micro controllers allowed for fine tuning the pulses sent to the motors on the machine I had built,
as well as for troubleshooting all of the myriad issues that would result in flaws in my prints.
Ultimately I became very interested specifically in web development as the web
was something that all of my other interests revolved around in some form,
and began pursuing online courses through platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, SoloLearn
and CodeAcademy Pro.
Through these online platforms and courses, I learned...
C# in relation to writing scripts for unity 3d and using unity
as a potential platform for browser-based games as well as a visualization engine for 3D models;
Python to improve usability of Blender when creating 3D models and assets for Unity
as this was the language it is written in, as well as leveraging it as a language for writing scripts
to automate networking and computing tasks;
Ecmascript 6 (ES6) version of JavaScript, along with HTML5, Ruby,
CSS3 and PHP to better bring my creativity to the web.
In addition to these courses, I began solving puzzles and challenges on sites such as CodinGame and CodeWars,
and playing a strategy game called Screeps which requires you to write the AI for your virtual army in Javascript.
These puzzles and games are not only fun, but also help to refine my skills as they provide unique scenarios
that aren't always encountered on a daily basis when coding.
Looking into programming bootcamps to boost my skills further, I found Ironhack which taught me far
more than I would have imagined thanks to the guidance of a very talented instructor, great teaching assistants and staff,
and an intense but well thought out Full-Stack web development curriculum that focused on the
latest industry-standard technologies, best practices, and Test-Driven-Development.
