Because software is fun.
About Me
Hi! I'm Dave Jahng, a software engineer in sunny Southern California. I work mostly freelance and remote.
A Little About My Professional Life
A little about my professional life: I have a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara. My focus was on high frequency circuit design, and communications theory/signal processing.
Anyways, my love for software didn't really develop (get it?) until after college. I taught myself PHP because I wanted to build dynamic websites. Up until that point, I had only been creating boring static HTML sites that I learned from reading HTML for Dummies. From there, I started building sites in python with Django and Flask.
Call it the snob in me, but I didn't care for javascript for a very long time. I didn't like jQuery, and I didn't consider javascript a "real" programming language. Of course that all changed when I was introduced to React. One issue I've always had with Django and Flask was that they're mainly server-side frameworks. The template engines for them feel clunky, almost like an afterthought. But paired with a React front end, I finally felt like I could create those streamlined and responsive websites I've always wanted to build.
These days I build my server back-ends with Django/Flask and Node/GraphQL. I also use serverless architectures like AWS Amplify and Google Firebase. But the front ends are always React.
Other than Work
When I'm not working, I spend as much time outside as possible. Whether it's hiking or backpacking, trail running, or mountain biking, I do it all. I've loved the mountains ever since my first backpacking experience with the Boy Scouts. Fun fact: the second backpack I ever did was the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska.
I'm also a volunteer instructor for the Sierra Club's Wilderness Travel Course, an annual 10 week class where we teach everything from map and compass navigation to rock scrambling and snow travel. It's a mix of classroom lectures and outings, and it ends with a 3 day, 2 night snow camp in the Eastern Sierra. For a lot of students, this is their first time backpacking. It's a lot of fun and those 10 weeks always fly by.
I also have 2 cats if that means anything to you.