Hello, my name is Jacob Grisham and I'm a software engineer based in San Francisco. I chose software engineering because I'm passionate about solving complex problems and building solutions to deliver projects. I currently lead teams to deliver business-critical projects as a professional software engineer at PowerSchool within the Naviance Organization.
Within the wide breadth of the software industry, I chose to focus on web development because it's a ubiquitous, accessible, and powerful platform. I specialize in the Typescript programming language (which is a superset of the Javascript programming language), micro frontends built with React, and cloud-based, distributed systems using event-driven serverless architecture in Amazon Web Services (AWS) built with infrastructure as code using AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK). Read this blog post to see the full list of technologies I've worked with and a breakdown of my experience with them.
I'm proud that I successfully switched careers from a university-trained environmental scientist to a self-taught professional software engineer. I laid the foundation of my initial skills and experience of a software engineer by enrolling in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and exercising that knowledge by building personal side-projects. You're invited to check out my certifications and courses I've completed via the curriculum button below, and you're invited to explore some of my earlier personal side-projects that I released to production further below. However, for more recent accounts of my work, particularly in the professional context, visit the homepage of my blog, where I post articles to share lessons learned and provide advice on problem/solution sets.
In addition to broadening my knowledge and honing my skills in my full-time job at PowerSchool, I make time to learn new things outside of work. See courses that are still in progress and courses that are in queue via the curriculum button below.
Methodology: I aim for a well-rounded and thorough self-education. I reference this frontend roadmap, this backend roadmap, and Harvard's Unofficial Guide to CS as syllabi to guide me on what topics to cover and the order in which to complete them.
Among the various educational resources, each fulfills a purpose based on its strength. I use Udemy for learning the basics of full-stack web development, eDX and Coursera for learning computer science fundamentals and advanced software engineering, and books to deepen my knowledge in specific subjects. I have chosen the specific courses and texbooks based on recommendations from numerous sources.
