HiringBoss

Hello, I'm Jay Matwichuk. I'm a bilingual freelance web developer, originally from Vancouver, Canada, living in Yokohama, Japan since 2000. I have been a web developer since 2005. I am fortunate in that my career is also my passion. I love building websites! For me, building a website is like doing a puzzle (which I also love). I have the pieces (programming languages), and a picture (the site design), and it is up to me to bridge the two together, in order to create a website that has nice, clean, easy to maintain code, is easy to use for both users as well as site admins/owners, and is set up correctly so that search engines are able to effectively data mine the content in order to show the site in the relevant search results.

However, unlike a puzzle, when building a website, there are many different paths that can be taken to reach the final product. For example, I could turn the whole site into an image, and paste it on a page. This would be easy, no more than five minutes work, but none of the text could linked to other pages, and search engines would not be able to index any of the content. I take pride in being able to put together the various programming languages in order to create sites that load fast, work in all browsers, and are simple to use for users of the site.

English Friendly Japan

I also take pride in providing good customer service. Before I was a web developer, I had a whole different life. I have been a staff manager with a team of 14, I have been a business manager responsible for advertising, hiring, and bookkeeping. I have been a teacher (EFL) of children, adults and seniors. I have done sales in a mountain bike shop, and I studied physics in university. I believe that all of these different experiences have enabled me to not just think like a programmer, but to also think like a regular person. When interacting with clients, I take the time to explain things in terms that a regular person can understand, without drowning them in confusing tech-talk. When building a site, I don't just think about how to build the site, but also how to make the site in a way that will enable the client to get the most out of it. If the client doesn't like the site, doesn't understand how the site works, or isn't happy with the service provided, then I don't get repeat business or referrals. For me, that is bad business. So I strive to make sure that all parties are happy with the completed product, and the service they receive before, during and after its creation.

I am a web developer. This means I build the engine behind a website. If you think of a car, it has an engine, which determines how well the car drives and handles, and a design, which determines how nice the car looks. Developers and designers use different parts of their brain - it's the difference between logic and creativity - and therefore it is rare to find someone that can excel at both. I have spent a significant amount of time studying the fundamentals of design so that I can work with it, however my true specialties lie in building the engine. That is to say, I strive to make a Ferarri, rather than a Volvo (not that there is anything wrong with a Volvo!). As such, I am affiliated with a number of designers with whom we share work. They need me, and I need them, so it's a symbiotic relationship! I make sure I take the time to find designers who can match my level of coding, so that we can make sites that don't just look ok and work fine, but rather look beautiful and work smoothly.

Here is list of some of my skills:

Pants People (male underwear site)

• CSS/(X)HTML - the basic building blocks of a website. (X)HTML is used for putting content together in a manner that browsers and search engines can understand, and CSS makes it all look pretty. It is important for developers to understand these languages (many developers don't), as they are the output of web-based programming languages. An analogy would be a baker who knows how to make a great cake mix, but doesn't know what a cake actually looks like. A good developer will know the ins and outs of CSS and (X)HTML so that they can make a cake that doesn't just taste great, but also looks great.
• PHP - a server-side programming language, that allows for sites to be dynamic and always changing based on user/admin input. PHP is used on thousands of websites around the world.
• Drupal  module development - Drupal is an open-source Content Management Framework (CMF). This system, used by thousands of organizations including Nike and the White House, allows for addition, editing, and deletion of content by users who have zero programming knowledge. It is also an extremely flexible framework, allowing for sites to built to look and behave exactly to the client's requirements for their site. jaypan.com is built on Drupal!
• Ubercart module development - Ubercart is the Drupal e-commerce solution, and is itself very customizable, allowing for recurring payments, referral systems, invoice based tracking, and pretty much any e-commerce functionality that one can think of.
• JavaScript - a client-side (browser based) programming language used for many things, including animation and manipulation of content after the website has loaded, or loading of new content dynamically without requiring a full page load.
• jQuery - a lightweight JavaScript library enabling JavaScript to work in all browsers, with clean code.
• HTML5 Video - this is the new standard for video on the internet. Until recently, most video on the internet was Flash based. However, devices such as the iPhone and iPad will not play Flash video, so the web is moving towards HTML5 video instead. Youtube and many other video sharing sites have implemented this technology in order to ensure that their sites will work on all computers and devices.
• Google Maps API - this API allows for the inclusion of Google Maps into any website, an can be customized with markers, routes, photos, or any number of various items on the map.
• Twitter/Facebook/Google+ integration - these APIs allow for content or functionality from social network websites to be inserted into a third party website (the client's website). I have listed these three social networks, but I am able to work with most social networking APIs, including Flikr and LinkedIn.
• AJAX applications - AJAX applications are websites that use JavaScript to load content dynamically, without requiring a page re-load. This provides a smoother, more user-friendly experience than traditional websites that require a page load every time a link is clicked. An example many will have seen is Google - start typing in a query, and the results load into the page, without requiring a full page load.
• JSON/XML - these are data formats that are used for the transfer of data between websites, or between a server and a user's computer. These formats allow for a minimum amount of data to be sent, thereby increasing speeds for the user, making for a better user experience.
• GIT/SVN/CVS - these three technologies are known as Versioning Control Systems. They allow for code to be built in branches, so that it can be moved between staging servers (for testing new code) and production servers (live sites open to the internet). They also keep track of all changes in code, allowing for old code to be re-added, new code to be temporarily hidden, and the tracking of code as it changes.

Thank you for taking the time to read about me, my passion, my skills, and my business. I am always happy to talk with new potential clients and discuss a solution that fits their budget, while meeting their requirements. I am also happy to give assistance with programming to anyone who has any programming related questions. If you would like, please take the time to check out my portfolio, and if you are interested in discussing  pretty much anything, then please drop me a line. You can also check out some of my recent site activity, which includes items from my programming blog and photo gallery. I am looking forward to hearing from you!