web developer
Go to the top

Hello, I'm
Peter Thomson

Full Stack Web Developer

About

Professional Profile

I am a committed and passionate full-stack web developer. I am as comfortable using layer masks in photoshop as I am grepping a directory in the command line.

Download resume as PDF format

Skills

All languages share a common ancestor, the language of good design

The more I explore software design and development, the more I realise there are common aspects that unite all good software. Even humble CSS benefits hugely from encapsulation, extensibility, modular design, frameworks, DRYness and YAGNI.

php

10+ years

Javascript

10+ years

HTML5/CSS3

10+ years

SQL

10+ years

python

2 years

Java

2 years

Knowledge

In the last 6 plus years of web development, I have had experience with all aspects of the life cycle of selling and building complex web applications. This starts with requirements gathering, quoting, pitching, right through to training, user acceptance testing, and deployment and maintenance plans.

  • Project Management
  • Lean Development
  • Requirements Gathering
  • Version Control
  • User Interface Design
  • Interactive Design
  • Graphic Design
  • Creative Suite Tools
  • RESTful API
  • LAMP and SSH
  • TDD, MVC, and ORM
  • LESS and SASS

Frameworks

To do great work you need great tools. I am specialised in WordPress as I really do believe in the primacy of user experience. Software design, extensibility and maintainability are equally important, so I use powerful, adaptable frameworks such as Symfony and Laravel for complex applications.

WordPress
Joomla
Symfony
Laravel

Experience

10+ Years Experience

I began to transition from a classroom teacher into a software developer with the understanding that I was 10,000 hours away from becoming an expert. While I achieved that mark after only 3 1/2 years, the myth of the 10,000 hour rule has been shown to be false. What is still true is that experience combined with wisdom and passion makes for an unbeatable combination.

Studio Publica

Senior Developer

2015 -
Lead and structured a complete change in development practices to a Lean philosophy. This was achieved by setting studio-wide policies for development life cycle from requirements gathering to wireframing to maintenance. Along the way I built a flexible OOP framework for WordPress that is the core product offering of the studio.
Zoom Room Interactive

Team Leader

2011 - 2014
Responsible for project managing many website projects while acting as lead front end developer and team manager. Worked with Symfony and WordPress.
Self-employed/Contract

Web Developer

2010 - 2011
Developed WordPress websites based on designs supplied by Red Dot Design. Here I started to understand the importance of code re-usability.
Self-employed/Contract

Web Developer

2008 - 2011
I started my Web Development career working for small design agencies such as Silverstream and Red Dot Design.
Bishopdale Primary

Classroom Teacher

2008 - 2011
I was the primary reliever and also worked in a part-time capacity for a small school of caring teachers. I loved how open the kids were, it was a pleasure to work there.
Younghoon Elementary

Classroom Teacher

2004 - 2007
I worked as a full primary teacher in a private international school with bilingual Korean students in Seoul, South Korea.
St Joseph's Primary

Classroom Teacher

2000 - 2004
Scale A classroom teacher at St Joseph's Primary in Barking, East London.
Tweedsmuir Junior High

Classroom Teacher

1997 - 2000
Permanent Scale A classroom teacher in a Middle School - Tweedsmuir Junior High in Invercargill.

Education

Life Long Learner

Just about the most fun I ever have is doing one of three things. Building something that looks good and works well, learning how to build something that looks good and works well, or showing someone else how to build something that looks good and works well. I enjoy learning and improving myself. I see it as a life-long endeavour and a key part of who I am.

University of Canterbury

Graduate Dip. Sci.

2014 -
I am very excited to be undertaking a course of study that gives me a much stronger foundation to start to make real contributions to software engineering. I intend to continue to study towards a Masters in Computer Science specialising in Human-Computer Interaction, particulalry as it relates to web development in the real world.
Natcoll College

Dip Web Design & Dev

2009
This was the perfect course of study to allow me to transition from a classroom teacher into a fully-fledged web developer. I was able to teach during the day and learn about web development in the afternoons and evenings. It gave me a strong foundation in HTML and CSS as well as an in-depth study of object-oriented php.
Chch College of Education

Diploma of Teaching

1995 - 1997
This was a challenging two-year course which started in the middle of the year. The work was relatively straight forward, but they gave you the best preparation for teaching because the sheer workload was immense. I still managed top grades in 26 out of 28 papers. What I also gained was a fantastic stepping stone to explore the world.
University of Canterbury

Bachelor of Science

1990 - 1993
I was uncertain what I wanted to do when I left school. So I chose to learn about what I was most passionate about. I was fascinated by the complexities in life-processes, so I specialised in biochemistry and cell physiology. This passion for understanding key underlying constructs is the reason I love great software design.

Portfolio

Work is the final seduction - Picasso.

Here I have chosen to show you some screen shots and a summary of the last 5 main projects I have developed. For the first two, I designed the user interface, but the remaining designs are the work of some very fine graphic designers.

Contact

Let's Keep In Touch

I care a great deal about what I do, and as such I am always keen to discuss my work and web development in general. I am always interested in learning how others approach software development, including their work flows, tools and processes, and even how they create a niche in such a competitive market. Even if you have no need of a full-stack web developer, but are invested in building web applications, do get in touch.

Peter Thomson

361A Withells Road,
Avonhead
Christchurch, 8042.
Phone
(022) 647 3164
Email
me@peterthomson.co.nz

Drop Me a Line

Peter Thomson

creative.
skilled.
passionate.
dedicated.