Patrick Canfield

Background

About Patrick Canfield

As a software engineer over the better part of two decades, I've had work experience as diverse as one can get. I've worked the entire Web "stack" using the latest languages and frameworks, I've developed low-level embedded systems firmware, and most recently have been diving into video games. It's inherently difficult to measure the impact of an individual in this field. I can say that my peers appreciate the quality of my work, complimenting the readability, conciseness, and documentation and automated tests. I've also been praised for my ability to take vague, confusing, contradicting feedback from users and distill it into actionable information. Some recent accomplishments: Connected a Linux server in my garage to the World Wide Web, developed a 3D game in JavaScript, created a microservice in Scala for an existing SPA that significantly reduced page load time. Outside of paid work, I founded a 12 person housing co-op in San Francisco in the ashes of an earlier iteration, and it's been going strong for over 2 years. It's required a lot of project management, marketing, open communication, imagination, and empathy. It's been a great source of purpose and fun. One of my biggest strengths is my capacity for diffuse attention. I notice connections between disparate data points that others miss. This has been an asset for creating user-centered software, because I'm more able to grok how a large complex system would be experienced by an end user. I'm also more able to grasp how a change to one part of the system will effect the whole. My concomitant capacity for divergent thinking means I can generate alternative ideas faster than the average person, and having more ideas to choose from usually leads to more optimal results. These strengths are partially why I've gravitated towards games, because developing games requires holistic, creative thought.