My name is Carl Haddick. I’ve had the privilege of working on many interesting projects with great people. it’s never an easy path, but it’s rewarding.

Hence this site’s tag line, Per aspera ad astra. With hardships to the stars. It’s kind of a more scholarly version of Illegitimus non carborundum, which I think means something like don’t let a sick moose grind up your git repository. I’ve never understood that.

I am experienced in Python, C/C++, and Java. In years past I’ve written quite a bit of Forth microcontroller code and more assembler than most. I’ve written systems with SQL back ends and microcontroller code for systems ranging from hand-wired 8 bit systems to enterprise-grade SPARC platforms.

I am a fan of logic and order. The programming and control of automated systems lets me practice what I enjoy most.

I’m looking for work.

When I wrote assembly language full-time, I developed a preprocessor that let me write mnemonic machine language in structured form, easily converted back to tried-and-true format. That tool eliminated off-by-one bugs, clarified control flow, made assembler more like a high level language, and probably saved a day’s labor every week.

More than anything else, that defines how I like to approach coding.

Analyze the problem, build tools to make tasks managable, then leverage the tools to create a strong and well-vetted solution, maintainable into the future.

That’s programming at its best, where intent is in focus and implementation is unforced.

There is more to a clever design than even the best coding, though. Productive camaraderie with team members and thoughtful preparation are irreplaceable.

And, of course, catch your exceptions, code for error conditions first, and never completely trust your input!