About Mike Speight

I have been working as a professional web developer since the late nineties and in other roles within the IT industry before that. My primary discipline is that of Front-End/User Interface Developer. Although I have a lot of experience of using Photoshop and other products in the Adobe Creative Suite to produce, cut and optimise graphics and have some design skills, I am not a Graphic Designer.

Skills and technologies

HTML/XHTML CSS:

These are the core skills of any Front-End/User Interface developer, I have been using these skills since the late nineties, and have now been using the latest versions of these technologies, HTML5 and CSS3, since their first appearance. I have also been employing some of the latest techniques, libraries and related technologies, such as OOCSS, Bootstrap and the use of pre compilers LESS and SASS. Taking into account the fast rate of change within the web industry, and the many ways our products are being consumed by the user on a variety of devices, I am using modern methods such as Mobile-First and Responsive Design to produce Interfaces that meet the demands of today's web.

JavaScript:

I have been coding JavaScript since the late nineties and have been using it to manipulate the DOM for just as long, and doesn’t present an obstacle as I started in the IT industry as a C programmer. Writing native JavaScript is not a problem, as I am just as comfortable coding with that as using a library such as jQuery etc. As the industry undergoes rapid change and the emphasis changes from Websites more towards Web Applications, I have tried to keep up to date with the latest JavaScript libraries and frameworks, such as: jQuery, jQuery UI, Knockout, Backbone, Underscore, Modernizer and more lately, Node and Angular. I spend quite a bit of time trying to keep pace as new frameworks and libraries emerge. I am also completely conversant with the use of the data transfer/storage technologies like: AJAX, JSON and the newer HTML5 technologies of: WebSockets and Local Storage. Given the increasing popularity of JavaScript Applications and the transfer of processing from the server to the client, it is imperative to develop these applications in a structured manor and to produce hi-quality code, therefore I am endeavouring to use processes like BDD/TDD and Unit Testing, especially important in Agile environments.

Server Technologies:

Over the time I have developed the front-end against quite a few different back-end server technologies and am competent with all. However during the time spent working for EMC/Conchango, who were primarily a Microsoft house I became skilled in developing the front ends for the Microsoft platform, in particular Server Controls and mark-up and the setting up and the use of Master Pages and nested Master Pages. This is a great help when having to style pages developed on Microsoft technologies.

CMS:

Over the years, I have worked on projects that have used various Content Management Systems, both Open Source and Microsoft based, including: Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla, Umbraco, Orchard, N2, Sitecore, among others.

Agile methodology:

While working for a company who championed Agile and Scrum in particular (Conchango). I have undergone several Agile training courses, i.e. “User Stories for Agile Requirements”, “Agile Estimating and Planning”, and I am a certified ScrumMaster. I have used these skills in a few contracts to aid the companies to adopt agile methodologies.

Areas of focus:

I continue to spend time researching and reading about new technologies as they appear, in order to improve my base skill-set and keep abreast of industry trends. I am also keen to keep abreast of some of the associated web technologies such as: SEO/Search Engine Optimisation, website optimisation, and analytics techniques, in an effort to maintain and develop a holistic skill-set.