An Introduction

My name is Andrew Walton, and I've been developing web applications for 5 years. If you haven't already, you can checkout my personal / resume site for some additional background information.

I'm starting this blog in an effort to further my knowledge of front-end web application development. Over the course of the past year or so I've become closer to front-end development than I ever have been. I come from a background of full-stack web development, focusing mostly on ASP.NET and not so much on the front-end.

After being a Microsoft developer for so long, it was initially difficult to start learning more open-source technologies. I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of JavaScript frameworks that existed and had no idea where to begin. I had been sheltered in the Microsoft ecosystem since college and this was my first venture out of that realm.

Although it was initially difficult, I am extremely happy I made the effort to really dig into front-end web development. I have found that it has moved from being an after-thought to being my actual passion. I LOVE front-end development. I love making beautiful and intuitive user interfaces. I love working with designers. I have found, over the past year, that I can relate to designers just as well, if not more so, than other developers.

My goal for this blog is to post what I learn from my full-time job, freelancing, and open-source work so that I can be a help to other front-end developers as well as gain valuable feedback to further my own understanding / knowledge of front-end development.

My current obsession for the front-end is EmberJS; for the back-end it's NodeJS / MongoDB. At least for now, most of my posts will probably focus on these technologies, with other tech thrown in every now and again.

If you have any questions / comments / posts you would like to read, don't hesitate to drop me a line on twitter (@awgreenarrow) or shoot me an e-mail at andrew@greenarrow.me.