About

About me

My name is Clara Ko and I am an American freelance Java/J2EE professional living as a Dutch citizen in Amsterdam. I graduated with a degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley in 1996. Since then, life has taken me (and my work) from the Silicon Valley, to Paris, and finally to Amsterdam, where I established myself in 2000. Having worked in various cultures, I am very interested in the difference in attitudes and communication in the workplace, especially what motivates people to be good at their jobs.

My current focus is on finding challenging positions where I can make robust design and elegant implementations, using agile and object-oriented methodologies. I like to design software with a bird’s eye view, from the top-down. Complicated architectures happen through human error, such as improperly designed APIs and concerns that are added in an adhoc way. My philosophy for designing software is that it should not be complicated, meaning it should always be possible to explain it to non-technical people.

Furthermore, I am a staunch proponent of agile development methods. I believe that concepts such as test-driven development, refactoring, and continuous integration help produce fast and steady results. The steadier the results come through, the less risk there is to the project. Agile development helps communications within a team and between the team and the business by showing clearly what is finished, so everyone knows exactly what is going on.

Purpose

I created this site in the spirit of sharing. My purpose is to form an online community and resource center for Java developers (not only freelancers) in the Netherlands. Both technical and non-technical information will be presented. Hopefully, the network created here will help you in the search for a new project on the practical end and to stay on top of the game on the intellectual end. In terms of technology, the information here is geared toward staying employable and will thus focus on popular solutions. Rather than details such as code that is most likely irrelevant for someone else, they will present the big picture and be pointers for further study. Furthermore, this site will also deal with issues such as the practical (administrative) and social (human) aspects of freelancing in the Netherlands.

Motivation

I will be sharing my perspective on emerging technology by documenting my learning process in various technologies, which will hopefully help others in their own study. I find that when I retell or discuss what I’ve learned, I am able to understand it better, because it forces me to formulate my thoughts into coherent narratives. Try it yourself. It works. I also believe that sharing information will increase the quality and subsequently the motivation of developers. The more qualified the IT industry in the Netherlands becomes, the more competitive we are in a world economy - which equals more opportunities for everyone.

Content

This site is organized in the form of a blog, allowing for searching by keywords, time, and tags (See Categories). Information presented include book reviews, and external articles and links, tied together with my own insights. Also in the works are surveys to provide statistics that will help us to become more effective as Java developers and/or IT freelancers in the Netherlands.

Consider contributing to this site.