F. Cody Casterline

Developing great software based on open source technologies and best practices. Learning new skills to tackle challenges as they arise.

The New York Times
Senior Software Engineer, September 2008 - August 2009

• Analyzed existing Community Back-end tier for performance bottlenecks. Evaluated curent caching scheme using modified Memcache APIs. Documented code dependencies.
• Implemented a tiered migration plan for standardizing Community Back-end APIs while maintaining backward compatibility.
• Created scripts (Python, PHP, SQL) to normalize inconsistent/missing data using a variety of data sources. (Database dumps, web services, etc.)
• Assisted in the project to migrate Community services to Amazon's EC2 platform.
  • Wrote "CloudSource", a code deployment system based on ServerMattic which provides an easy path for getting working code onto servers quickly. It serves as the core deployment methodology for the NYT Community platform.
  • Defined and created many of the "roles" for the Community EC2 cluster.
  • Audited and updated the Community Administration UI to remove dependencies not available directly from EC2.
  • Wrote "Migratinator" to easily deploy, rollback and log database schema and data migrations from Subversion to MySQL.
• Wrote technical documentation for existing and new APIs and software.
• Provided support to other teams interfacing with Community data. (Advice, samples, data extracts, etc.)

Pervasive Software
Engineering Consultant, March 2008 - August 2008

• Maintained and extended a custom MCF application plugin for Pervasive's Data Integrator software suite.
• Wrote test plans and assisted in debugging a DMS plugin for Data Integrator.
• Assisted customers in developing and maintaining data translation processes.

Fusion Learning Systems
Engineer, September 2006 - October 2007

• Maintained and extended a Java (Swing) application used for creating class curricula based on textbook contents.
• Maintained and extended a J2EE application that created course materials based on data files.
• Led technical development of a J2EE LMS, including requirements gathering, technical design, documentation, and choice of technologies. (Apache Ant, Apache Struts, Hibernate, Jython, Apache Axis)

Tocquigny Advertising, Interactive + Marketing, Austin, Texas
Interactive Developer, March 2003 - March 2005
Senior Interactive Developer, April 2005 - February 2006

• Developed a DHTML library to simplify building dynamic, template-driven site navigation.
• Maintained and extended proprietary "response metrics engine", a multi-user web application which tracked and reported on hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of advertising campaigns.
• Brought Object Oriented Programming techniques to existing code to provide reusable APIs which sped further development.
• Wrote custom ETL (Extract, Translate & Load) scripts to translate proprietary data from MySQL and PostgreSQL databases into a remote MS SQL database.
• Wrote automated tasks for converting and merging data into different databases.
• Completed Java 2 certification after-hours when development switched to Java.
• Developed code to help with the migration from a file system based development environment (Samba & FTP) to a distributed development environment (CVS) in both PHP and Java (w/ Ant).
• Led the development of Snapshot Metrics.
• Simplified and optimized database schemas and queries.

Interactive Ensemble, Austin, Texas
Web Programmer, May 2000 - March 2003

• Wrote a custom system monitoring and reporting tool to monitor system status and send alerts on system failure. (Python)
• Wrote a file based web templating engine, "Phope," which uses PHP to implement Zope-like features.
• Helped migrate from proprietary to Open Source software.
  (BIND, MySQL, PostgreSQL, exim, DHCP, GNU/Linux, Samba, Netatalk)
• Headed the migration of web, file, mail, DHCP, DNS and other servers to a new IP block. Used iptables to forward traffic to the new net block for nearly zero downtime, even in spite of laggy DNS updates.
• Headed the creation of a business-to-business ordering system with a three-tiered approval process.
• Debugged and extended "Indacta," a site management system. (PHP)
• Worked with various database back-ends. (PrimeBase, MSSQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• Designed database schemas for custom web applications.
• Converted page mock-ups from the design department into dynamic web sites. (HTML/PHP/JavaScript)

Port Aransas Independent School District, Port Aransas, Texas
Network Assistant 1996-1998

• Installed and performed troubleshooting on hardware and software.
• Helped staff to use new software, e-mail, and the Internet.

Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform 1.4 (SCJP)
August, 2004

Programming:

Databases

Web Design:

Operating Systems:

• Linux: Kernels 2.2 - 2.6. Debian, Slackware, RedHat.
• DOS, Windows 3.1 - Windows XP
• MacOS 6 - MacOS X

Applications:

Networking: