Hi, I'm John Allan Hinds
Full-stack Developer
Professional poker player turned Software Engineer. I have an affinity for critical thinking.
Contact MeAbout Me
My journey
Once I graduated from high school, I was accepted into the School of Engineering
at Virginia Commonwealth University where I pursued a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After 3 years, I
chose to relocate to North Carolina with the desire to pursue other passions. It was during this time
that I found the game of poker.
After putting in thousands of hours of play over the following few years, I believed my skills to be sharp
enough to pursue poker full-time. I spent the next decade traveling the country as a professional poker player.
Three years ago I felt it was time for a career change and I enrolled into App Academy's intense 24-week coding
program. I undertook my newest challenge with determination and spent every waking minute coding.
24 weeks later, I graduated and was able to build full-stack applications from scratch (found in the
Portfolio section) leveraging the most pertinent new technologies
(please see the Skills section).
Some time after entering the job search, I landed an internship as a Frontend Engineer at Chess.com. There I built
efficient user interfaces with Vue.js, TypeScript, and Twig. I transformed multi-page assets into single-page
applications (SPA), improving speed and responsiveness, and implemented state management for complex interactions.
Using Docker for containerization and Cypress for testing, I ensured reliable deployments and robust functionality.
Working within an Agile workflow, I contributed to impactful projects now ingrained in Chess.com's legacy codebase.
After my time at Chess.com, I worked at Innovative Computers as a Full-stack Python Developer, where I contributed
to the development and maintenance of a large-scale Django application. Collaborating with a tight-knit team in an
agile environment, I built end-to-end features, optimized backend performance, and ensured seamless integration of
frontend and backend components. My role involved crafting scalable, modular solutions, conducting code reviews,
and implementing RESTful APIs to enhance user experiences. This position solidified my ability to work efficiently
in remote, team-driven settings while maintaining high-quality coding standards.
Not sure what is in store for me next on my journey, but I'm excited to continue down this new path. If you are
in need of an eager and personable full-stack developer with a desire to contribute, feel free to send me an
email or give me a call. I would love to connect.
experience
projects
Skills
My familiar assetsFrontend
JavaScript
96%React.js/Redux
92%VueJs
83%TypeScript
90%Bootstrap
88%CSS
95%HTML
98%Backend
Python
93%Node.js
92%Express.js
88%Amazon Web Services (AWS)
57%MongoDB
78%PostgreSQL
87%Docker
82%Qualification
My personal journeyFull-Stack Web Development
App AcademyMechanical Engineering (Undergrad)
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFull-stack Python Developer
Innovative ComputersFrontend Engineering Intern
Chess.comProfessional Poker Player
Self-employedPortfolio
Most recent work
Survivr
A Flickr clone for Survivor faithfuls. With it's smooth UX, Survivr is the best place to store, view, comment on, and like snapshots of your favorite Survivor moments.
Flashback
Flashback is a fully-responsive app that allows users to share pictures and comments of things they find memorable. Several features such as email and google authentication, pagination, search and filtering capabilities, and comments.
IntelliPics
An application where you can create and share computer generated images using OpenAI.
Ecomvision
A MERN app that provides overviews of an e-commerce company's users and products, as well as data visualizations for sales.
Quitter
A Twitter clone that provides an inclusive community for those suffering from or in recovery from addiction.
AdminMax
A frontend admin dashboard app that highlights Syncfusion components such as calendar, kanban board, text editor, color picker, and an array of data visualization charts.
Merntopia
A MERN app where users can share what's on their mind with status updates, upload and share pictures, and make connections with other users.
Testimonial
Kind words from
Josh Levine
CTO at Chess.comJohn Allan is a bright and kind person. He approaches problems with genuine care and thought. He has the grit and determination to see things through, even if there is a learning curve or changes in his path, all with a positive attitude. I am grateful we had the chance to work together at Chess.com and I am proud to say I got to be the first one to hire John Allan as a software engineer!
Andrew Stilinovic
ClassmateJohn Allan was the most eager learner I worked with while we studied together at App Academy. John Allan would never give up trying to learn a language or technology, even when it was frustrating or complicated. He has a true passion for programming and can spend hours seeped in a project. John Allan is a hard worker who will put in any extra hours when necessary to learn or fix a problem. If you are looking for a quality, hard working software engineer, John Allan has you covered.
Chase Riddick
ClassmateJohn Allan is a capable, well-rounded software developer. I had the
pleasure of working with him in both the broad context of an intensive training cohort, as
well as in several light-weight sprint-projects along our mutual learning journey.
Not only was his upbeat, professional mien a constant delight to the entire team of 50+ people, but
I can say without exaggeration that John Allan is one of the most outstanding characters I have had
the pleasure of collaborating with at App Academy. Besides being exceptionally able, intelligent and
personable, what I’ve been continually impressed by is the level of dedication that John Allan brings
to everything he does.
My conjecture is that this dedication was (a) built up over a decade of pursuing his dream and a
high-stakes career, or else (b) the cause of his being able to pursue it in the first place. Regardless
of which - it comes out in everything the gentleman sets himself to doing. It shows in the
attention-to-detail, and thoroughgoing approach too gives to creating pixel perfect UI in React. And it
shows in the dozens of off-hours he’s shared teaching his colleagues in need.
I recall one particular instance where we were challenged to research and adopt Python’s Flask
micro-framework in building a web app’s api layer. I doubt I would have been able to bring it to
completion by deadline had not John Allan generously walked me though the parallels between it and a
Node.js framework that we had been working with prior to that.
In short, I would recommend John Allan to anyone considering bringing him on their team. And, I look
forward to see the bright impact he dishes out over the coming several years.