Apr - 2025hello@sthompson.co

Official “Scott Thompson” Guide

FRONT-END EXPLORER

Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia, Canada.

What does “Explorer” mean?
 
My title says Principal, used to be Lead and before that Senior. Explorer is more eye-catching and exciting than any of those words. I am good at what I do. I solve problems. Tackle the big tasks. Make the impossible seem trivial. Let me find the way.
Mount Uniacke. Why?
 
I am one of the people who traded life in the city for tranquility in the country. We have better Internet here than we did in the city. I walk to the lake every morning with my family. Sure, it's a 20-minute drive to groceries and Uber Eats doesn't work, but we see foxes and hear a loon sometimes. I like it here.

Job History

OpenNMSPrincipal FE Dev

Vue3
React

OpenNMSLead FE Dev

Vue3
React

LaunchFortSenior Developer

React
RN

McMillanSenior Developer

React
NodeJS

Able CoCo-Founder

React
NodeJS + TS

McMillanInt Developer

Typescript
C#

Coast GuardCS-02

jQuery
C#
 

Specs

Background
Application Development
Strength
Web Front-End
Also Good At
Mobile (via React-Native)
In My Free Time
Art Coding & Research
Years of Experience
15+
Coding Nits
KISS, DRY, underscores look weird.
Favorite Language
Typescript
If not a Dev, Then What?
Music Man, Town Crier
Dream Gig
Research & build the “Next Big Thing”™

Things I know

So, this is initially a serious list of my skills, and then it grows increasingly cheeky into a list of everything I have researched or investigated (that I could think up while building this site). I just love to code, so I am always following rabbit holes. Sometimes they lead to career changes, other times it's a fun afternoon. Feel free to ask me about anything on this list.

00.The Fundamentals (HTML, CSS, JS)
01.TypeScript
02.React, Vue, Vanilla Web Components
03.Pinia, Redux, XState
04.NodeJS, C#, PHP, Python, Ruby
05.Webpack, Gulp, Bowser
06.GreenSock (gsap)
07.Tone.JS, Three.JS, Phaser.JS, Pixi.JS
08.React-Native
09.VIM
10.Playdate SDK, Godot, Unreal Engine
11.PERL
12.Really esoteric window managers like dwm
13.HTML Emails (please do not ask me about these unless you have oodles of money)

Things I Love

I love digging into complicated designs; with dozens of moving parts, connected libraries and expensive stakeholders. I love collaborating with designers and UX and writers and anyone who wants to push against what is possible while making it more usable.I love finding a giant pile of disconnected parts, making sense of it, and putting it back together to make it sing. I love working with others that also get their hands dirty. Find out what makes something tick and then make it better as a group. That is what makes great products.

 

My Career So Far

0145%

Front End

0222%

R & D

0314%

Back End

047%

Leader

054%

Lovable Scamp

Who Is Scott?

Scott

Cooks

Scott

Drums

Scott

Dances Funny

Scott

Has a Dog

Scott's Weirdo Side Projects

Work doesn't pay for the weird stuff. Sometimes I make things in my free time. I had a lot of fun with these. Enjoy them with me.

Click

Wax

Bars

Blorbs

Dots

Bogus Results

Sometimes it doesn't work out. That's okay. Part of life.

Game

Official Portrait

I am not an artist. But I will always try something new. I am not afraid of looking silly. I have spent a lifetime doing that already. Sometimes it is easier to just own it.

Shameless Dog Inclusion

This is my dog. Isn't he adorable? He's only here because he's so cute. He is great. Except when he bites. Which is always because he is a puppy. He will grow out of it. Check out this video of the website I made for him.

I lifted this entire page from Aaron Draplin's Official Gary Guide.I hope I did the work justice. Here's to Gary. I think you and Wally would get along.