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About

·2 mins

I am a father, husband and geek.

I have always enjoyed coding. My interested started when my uncle bought me a ZX Spectrum 48k when I was only 11! I’m giving my age away there 😉.

From Oct 2015, I was an admin on the Real Racing 3 Wiki. This included updating the site, using HTML, Wiki mark-up and designing templates. This allowed editors to enter high-quality data and display it in a consistent layout. I introduced variables, which allowed tables to be automatically totalled and colour highlighting of relevant data. I retired as an Admin Jan 2019, to concentrate on becoming a programmer.

After installing a PHP system called REDCap, in 2017, my interest in programming was rekindled. I self-studied since 2018 to learn full-stack development: PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and SQL/MySQL. I wrote some web APIs, part-time, to integrate REDCap in the NHS.

My effort has paid off! In July 2020, I started as a full time software developer at Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), I have added over 800 pages to our website. I have created several sites using Silverstripe CMS. After one of the developers left I took ownership of several legacy sites, build with in house PHP frameworks. I am currently building an event booking and planning app using Laravel and the TALL stack.

I 💖 being a software developer!

Michael Pritchard (AKA Pen-y-Fan)
Author
Michael Pritchard (AKA Pen-y-Fan)
Posts about my coding experiences, primarily for my learning path with PHP, good clean professional code.