Webific Services is a personal company that I started to promote myself and publish various projects online. Presently, I have one smaller project in the work. Once I gather enough funds to finance an artist, I'll also be able to resume my work on a web game I started years ago.
In terms of academic credentials, I hold a bachelor in Computer Sciences and a major in mathematics & statistics (4.5 years), but what I'm really proud of are things I learned on my own initiative while working on personal projects as I have a very well rounded knowledge of the various components required to develop and launch a web application.
As for corporate experience, I did 4 work terms in university and I worked brieftly at Quazal (middleware networking company for games) after graduation. The most meaningful thing I learned during that time was that working on closed, platform specific, proprietary technologies would not get me where I want to be professionally. I have since fully embraced open-source technologies, especially those web related.
My open source projects tend to be related to larger projects I'm working on. All my projects so far can be found on my Github account and my Node.js projects can be found on the NPM registry.
Recently, I became interested in Docker as I started reading about it and playing with it. When I feel comfortable enough with it to use it to isolate some of my dependencies, I'll be sure to post some of my more generic projects on the Docker Hub.
I read roughtly 30 to 40 IT books after university spanning a good range of topics. While I stumbled upon a handful of terrible books (when you read on recent technology, you can't always afford to pick a proven book), I'm pleased to say that most books I read were at least competent so you're unlikely to go wrong with a book even if you don't read the best of the lot. However, some books are better than others and here are a couple of standouts for me that made my journey much easier.
Great reading for the novice and intermediate level C++ programmer. It covers a lot of nooks and crannies as well as recommended practices and it does so in a very accessible manner with a clear division of topic that makes these books great to use as a reference.
If you want one pit stop to learn what you need to know about both 2.7.x and 3.4.x, this is it. It's a bit of a long read (more doubled in volume since I read the edition about Python 2.6/2.7), but the author makes the content very accessible and is quite comprehensive in his coverage. He certainly did a marvelous job at updating his book over the years.
If you only want to learn about Python 3, however, there is hopefully a shorter more focused book out there for you.
First of all, I actually read the 5th edition of this book which I have as a physical book. The publisher, unfortunately, did not decide to publish this book as a DRM-free ebook (meaning you're stuck reading the ebook with approved software).
The material presented in this books is inconsistent. Most of it is at least competent, but some is just plain incomplete (the part on configuring Postfix is rather slim for example). However, the networking part of this book is pure gold. If you never configured a Linux firewall or router and need an accessible book that will bring you up to speed on the topic, this is it.
Great book to get up to speed on jQuery. It doesn't assume a lot of prerequisites (even has an appendix to bring JavaScript beginners up to speed on things like closures) and covers plenty of connected topics. Will transform you from beginner to someone who can get things done with jQuery.
My Bible for Javascript development in the browser. It goes into a ridiculous amount of details, especially in the early chapters so make sure you have a caffeinated beverage nearby. Also, consider anything beyond chapters 1 to 7 and 22 to be optional, as needed, reading.
Note, however, that if you are strictly interested in the newer features of HTML5, there are more targetted books that you should read instead. For example, there are entire books dedicated solely to the HTML5 canvas.
Despite it's short length and good coverage of core topics, some people found this book long winded. Personally, I found this book to be a very approachable synthesis of the more advanced features of JavaScript. It was a good pit stop to get up to speed on aspects of the language I was shakier in.
Ok, a book about CSS is not the most pleasant read for an engineer, but if you don't want to be dependant on external frameworks and ugly HTML to do your visual formating for you, better grit your teeth and get to it.
I read the second edition of this book and select parts of the third edition and I found it very clear with lots of examples. It covers what you need to know to master static front-end display. The third edition dropped hacks for aging browsers and replaced them with new css features which imo is a good thing.
There are 4 big things I'd like to add which I picked up after reading this book: setting left and right margin to auto will center a block element in it's container, this and also that. And finally, start integrating LESS in your work flow as soon as possible. It will make your css files (yes, plural) more organized and maintainable.
At the time I read this book, it was the most up to date Node.js reference. What I liked about this book is that it stuck to the main concepts and tools to make you a functional Node.js developper as soon as possible with an emphasis on web development.
Unfortunately, at this point, the sections covering the Express.js framework are dated which is a big deal considering this book's emphasis on web development. You can read another book about it or wait for the next edition of this book which I believe is in the work.
Also, you may want to read a more advanced reference for things like streams, although I found the official documentation very serviceable in the later case.
I was initially hoping to launch the web site with a nice freeby which is actually an older project of mine: responsive Clue spreadsheets (because I like to play Clue and I have a tablet). Unfortunately, that didn't materialize as my request to Clue's copyright holder Hasbro Inc was denied.
I'll publish a project that might be of some interest for pen&paper role-playing game enthusiasts in the not so distant future. Stay tuned.
I'm always happy to do freelance or contact work. My rates are quite affordable. I'm also interested in more permanent work as long as you are receptive to my working on personal projects when I'm not at work.
If you are a university student in the Montreal area, I also provide tutoring services, though I won't do your homework for you... I'll just help you get over the rough bits.
I can be reached by email at eric_vallee2003@yahoo.ca or by cell 438-325-4322 (Montreal area code). A domain specific email will follow once I'm finished setting up a robust email server.