About
Hi 👋 #
My name is James Millner, and I’m currently located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK but have always lived in the Yorkshire area.
I’m a Software Engineer primarily specialising in JVM based, event-driven applications. My experience is most recently routed in Java, but professionally I’ve also built and maintained Kotlin-based applications. I love building lean, efficient, reliable and maintainable software systems. I have a lot of industry experience in the entertainment space, specifically in the gambling sector. More recently though, I’ve been lucky enough to work in the FinTech space.
Beyond my professional life, I have a strong interest in cycling, after taking up the sport in 2018 it’s thoroughly taken over my spare time. It’s given me a huge appreciation for West Yorkshire, although it is very hilly! ⛰️ Since 2018 I’ve clocked over 10,000KM in distance, and counting! Find me on Strava & Komoot!
Fun Facts #
- Unfortunately I’m not the legendary Liverpudlian footballer James Milner - although my mum will call me everytime I’m “on the telly!”
- I was a Scout for around 6 years and was lucky enough to attend the 22nd World Scout Jamboree 🇸🇪 🌍
- As a result I own the same coat as the King of Sweden!
- Although he might not have kept it for as long as I have
- Co-Founder of Leeds Kotlin User Group 🦉
- Co-Founder of DartsNow, an Online Darts Platform 🎯
Engineering Specific Notes #
I’m a huge advocate of Kotlin. Its expressive and concise nature takes writing JVM-based applications to a whole new level. It’s also a great introduction into the world of functional programming.
Spring Boot is another resource I’ve got a lot of experience with. It simplifies the process of setting up stand-alone applications, eliminating a lot of the fuss associated with boilerplate code and infrastructure. That being said, it’s not without its issues!
I’ve also spent a good amount of time with Kafka, an event-streaming platform that’s ideal for handling high-volume, real-time data. It’s an integral part of the event-driven systems I work with, and lots of my professional experience has interacted with it.
In addition to application development, I’ve frequently been involved with Containerisation and DevOps, not just professionally, but also as a personal hobby. This interest aligns with my fascination for System-on-Chip (SoC) computing. The concept of integrating all the components of a computer onto a single chip captivates me, and I may have a decent collection of Raspberry Pi’s, much to the joy of my partner.
Given the impressive power that these compact machines now possess, they offer an excellent platform for skill development. Check out my blog post about Pi’s, but I find Kubernetes fascinating and challenging, so I’ve been trying to upskill on my own playground.
So, these are the bits of tech that get me up and coding in the morning!
Experience #
I’m currently working as a Software Engineer at Lendable, remotely in Huddersfield.
Rather than duplicate my experience on here, my full professional experience can be found over on LinkedIn
Other Technical Experience #
Programming / Scripting Languages #
Kotlin • Java • JavaScript • Typescript • React • GoLang • Bash Scripting
Frameworks #
Spring Boot • Micronaut
Operating Systems #
MacOS • Ubuntu • Debian • Windows, especially WSL
Cloud Computing and Automation #
AWS • GCloud • Digital Ocean • Terraform • Cloudformation • AWS CDK • Chef • Ansible
Event Driven Tools #
Kafka • RabbitMQ • ActiveMQ • SQS • SNS
Monitoring and Observability #
Prometheus • Grafana
Database Technologies #
MySQL • Postgres • MongoDB • Cassandra
Other Tools #
Kubernetes • Docker • Git • Makefiles • Intellij IDEA • VSCode • Atom