A rockstar both on the stage and on the web, DigitalCrafts’ graduate, Danny Arango recently amped up his skills through the programming school’s full-stack web development bootcamp. Now, he’s ready for a syntax solo.
Arango was lured into coding by two of his bandmates after moving back to Atlanta, and, well, the rest is history. He hung up his guitar for lines of code. He’s digging his new skill set in Angular and SQL and hopes to expand his knowledge into Ruby on Rails and Ember. This off-the-charts coder is ready for the big time at a mid-size company. Don’t miss out on giving Arango a gig for his talents.
What program are you currently enrolled in?
I am a student at DigitalCrafts in Atlanta, GA. I am attending their Immersive 16-Week Coding Bootcamp and I also took part in the UI/UX Elective that was offered.
What is your previous education?
I attended New York University and received BFA in Recorded Music and B.A. in History as well as a Minor in Creative Writing. Of course, education isn’t restricted to a classroom so I have to include my apprenticeship at Sommatone Amplification, where I learned my craft as an Amplifier/Guitar Pedal technician and then perfected my skills as a Luthier (someone who works on stringed instruments) at Baxendale Guitars. Now, I can build both analog and digital circuits!
What was your work experience before aspiring to become a web developer?
I spent my 20’s as a touring musician, but I’ve always held jobs at guitar and amplifier shops since I love working on instruments so much. Initially after college, I worked as a Pro Tools Engineer at a mid-sized studio and started my own management company for hardcore and metal bands while working at Sommatone. While I was successful, I realized that a) I did not want to work in a windowless studio for 10+ hour days, and b) I wanted to focus on my own career as opposed to other bands. So, I started a new band and balanced my touring with working at guitar shops until I moved to Atlanta, at which point I began my work as a barback. I joined a new band when I moved here and as luck would have it, two of the other band members are programmers. They were the ones that turned me onto coding.
What technology and tools are essential to you as a developer?
Personally, I need an extra screen. As a studio engineer, I always found it easier to have my edit window on one screen and my mixing window on another. In a similar manner, I have a 27’ screen at home for my text editor and my laptop screen to see the result of my code. Besides that, I am very interested in the Internet of Things so I’d say a Raspberry Pi is essential for those looking to explore IoT.
How do you stay informed & on top of emerging trends?
TechCrunch and Hacker News are my top two resources for new and exciting information. Aside from that, the Tech404 Slack Channel (I recommend joining for anyone involved in Atlanta’s tech scene) is always a great hotbed of new technology and information.
After DigitalCrafts, what’s next on your list to learn?
Well, I want to finally master Ember. I love its intuitive design and I’d like to re-platform some of the apps I’ve designed from Angular to Ember. If you’re into OOP, I would recommend checking it out. Besides that, my passions are Big Data and IoT. So, way more SQL, back-end frameworks, languages like R, etc and of course, more Raspberry Pi. I’d also like to study Ruby on Rails more.
Are you interested in working for a startup, agency, mid-sized company, or a corporate giant?
Initially, it would be great to work for a mid-sized company or corporate giant so I can experience how it’s done on a large scale. I believe having a mentor, and being surrounded by other developers would behoove me while I’m still green. Eventually, I would like to work for a startup and potentially start my own.
Interested in looking at Danny’s credentials? Check out his website, GitHub, and LinkedIn.
