KnowledgeTree Blog

It’s all about me!

Hi, my name is Kevin, a.k.a. chalky on IRC, a.k.a. z0mb13 (but we won’t go there just yet!). I am a vi, gentoo, bsd, kde, GNU/Linux, Free Software, firefox, ruby, C++, asm, cli, Neil Young, Nine Inch Nails, John Irving, Sci-Fi, AMD64, African, 4X4, dog kind of person. I am also the KnowledgeTree Tools product manager. Currently the majority of my time is devoted to KTtools for Windows development in C# and KnowledgeTree Integration Server development in PHP.

I have always had a disturbing (to others) obsession with technology and as a youngster dreamed of being chosen for a voyage of discovery to the stars and beyond - quite happy that it would probably be a one way trip. By 12 I had written quite a few programs and had built up a large library of code. Yes, even then I was into code reuse. I did not know it was good design, just that I was too lazy to keep rewriting it. My mentor at that time was a UCT CompSci student friend of my brother. After she told me they where too difficult for me, C and assembler quickly become my favorite languages. I would beg, borrow and steal her lecture notes and textbooks to feed my ever increasing appetite for coding knowledge. Looking back now, I see I was a total control freak! I loved being the “creator” that made “stuff do stuff”! This is probably what led to my first big dev gig. “Develop a system that controls the fire systems, environmental systems, lighting systems and access controls for the new Head Office of one of the largest insurance companies in South Africa” they said. “I’m in heaven!” I said. Since then I have been involved in several large development projects ranging from a couple of months to several years. The majority of them have even been successful!

Today I find myself in a very enviable position. I work for a great company; with great people; on a great product; in the most beautiful city in the world! I truly believe that with this much going for it KnowledgeTree is only going to go from strength to strength. I hope that during this journey I can share some useful information and give back to the community that has helped me so much over the years.

Thanks
Kevin

If it moves, recompile it!