Hi, I'm Ruth! I'm a software developer based in Portland, OR.

I have a B.A. in linguistics from Reed College, in Portland.

I have 9+ years of professional dev experience, primarily as a backend engineer.

I love what I do because I love solving problems, learning new things, and building things that people can use.

I'm really good at understanding complex systems. As a friend put it, I'm an accomplished "contemporary archaeologist" - I will dive into a code base to learn its intricacies, while also acquiring an understanding of the big picture (why are we building this thing? who are the users? what are their problems? what are all the parts of the solution?) so that I am able to explain how all the pieces fit together.

But I also believe strongly in making the archaeology of a code base easier for everyone who encounters it. That means good commit messages and a clear git log, tests that illustrate how the code should work, documentation, and team code review.

Outside of work, I run, hike, swim, backpack, and generally enjoy the outdoors. I don't own a car and get around primarily by bike. I read a lot. I do a weird singing thing called Sacred Harp. I really like cats.

the Author with Cat