Lewis Holmes

Software Engineer

Goal-oriented, highly aspirational, and fast-thinking, I am a perfectionist when it comes to my work. Young but already experienced, I pick up skills quickly, can rapidly solve problems, and will not be afraid to ask questions when working with new technologies. I enjoy creating small tools to streamline workflows as much as possible to enable me to jump from task to task with little disruption. In my down-time I like to play logic games to hone my thinking skills, as well as MMO games to develop creative problem solving strategies, and play musical instruments to increase dexterity and typing speed.

Lewis Holmes
[email protected]
github/ThatGamerBlue
keybase/ThatGamerBlue
linkedin/Lewis Holmes

Technical Skills

Java

I have been working with Java since 2013 when I was only 10 years old, developing Minecraft plugins and other similarly small projects, moving into larger and larger projects. I’ve been working with the language ever since, and it’s always been my favourite, from the high level APIs to down at the compiled bytecode level.

C#

Similarly to Java, I started early, creating WinForms based applications to interact with services and other tools, smoothing out my workflow and allowing a quick-response style development process.

Skill Set

JAVA

SQL

PHP

PYTHON

JAVASCRIPT

SQL

Alongside my Java and C#-based projects, as they grow larger they often encounter the need for a well-designed database, to allow for maximum speed and efficiency when loading, saving, and processing data. To that end, I have gained much experience with Postgres, and SQL in general, as well as creation of scripts and tools to gather analytics about the data stored, ranging from simple tasks like user counts and sales figures, all the way to more complex analytics such as combined metrics of sales numbers, sales trends over time, user interests, discount cost/benefit analysis, as well as detection of abnormalities such as threat actors attempting to compromise systems, or attempts to go undetected when performing activites against the Terms of Service of services.

Open Source

I’m a big believer in open source, so I spend a lot of time contributing as much as I can to smaller projects to help them get off the ground. I have worked with core developers on many projects, including many Minecraft mods and plugins, web-based maps, and a custom game client for a successful MMORPG. I have also made projects of my own, having over 140 public repositories on github, including large-scale applications with multiple dependent logical sections, Minecraft mods, small tools and utilities, and plugins for RuneLite.

I was made project lead of this game client for my range of development abilities, as it required reverse engineering skills, creation of tools to automate manipulation of low level Java bytecode, implementation of an efficient CI/CD service to build the project to provide nightly testing builds for users, and management of a team of core developers who worked on their own modules, I grew this project to a considerable size, with an average of 10,000 concurrent users, and over 100,000 unique installations, until its sunset.

Work Experience

Freelance

Apr 2019 - Present

Software Engineer

Contracted for many clients, providing quick turnarounds and solid, stable solutions, resulting in increased productivity and profits, in one case up to 50% within 4 months of deployment.
Flexible development system allows late changes to the design for a minimal time loss, allowing clients more time to communicate their requirements, while still providing a quick service.
Previous long-term commitments with companies acting effectively as an employee gave me an understanding of working for companies, as well as expectations of what would be required of me.
Working with companies a focus on the MMO games industry, I've gained a valuable understanding of that specific sector of the market, and the need to move quickly to stay relevant in the ever-changing landscape.
Creation of fortnightly progress reports for my clients, including information such as estimated completion percentage, estimated time until completion, future cost projections, issues encountered, reported, and resolved, and estimated additional costs for features requested after launch.

Breakwater IT

Jan 2020 - Mar 2020

Intern System Administrator

Breakwater IT provides IT support and services to businesses in Norwich, Norfolk, and across the UK.

Built, configured, and deployed computers and servers for companies.
Evaluated budgets, time sheets, workflows, and deployed a modern ticketing system to improve efficiency and increase profits.
Migrated a large environment away from old in-house servers to cloud-based services, improving workflow effectiveness and enabling work-from-home environments much sooner than other workplaces.