Ben Turner
Principal Software Developer at Octodot Labs
Portland, Oregon, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolBen Turner is a Principal Software Developer with 14 years of experience building full-stack web applications and scalable backend systems, primarily using JavaScript, Ruby, and Java. Based in Portland, he blends deep engineering skills with formal training in User-Centered Design to prioritize solutions that genuinely meet user needs rather than just specs. His career spans startups and large companies— from early-stage roles at Gist (employee #4) to scaling services at BlackBerry and broad product work at Delighted—showing strength across front-end interfaces, data architecture, and integrations. He’s practiced in information visualization and HCI, writes maintainable systems that other engineers can extend, and prefers consulting engagements that consider the whole system. A subtle strength is his long habit of designing synchronization and data-merging algorithms for messy real-world contact data, reflecting both technical rigor and attention to human data quality.
14 years of coding experience
26 years of employment as a software developer
Certificate User-Centered Design, Certificate User-Centered Design at University of WashingtonHuman Computer Interaction, Human Computer Interaction at University of MichiganBellarmine College PreparatoryBS Computer Science, BS Computer Science at University of San Francisco
Github Skills (43)
node-api10
ruby-client10
api-client9
rails-gem9
roo9
php-api9
python-client9
api9
node-client9
mechanism8
excel8
openoffice8
puma8
nodejs8
bootstrap7
Programming languages (6)
Github contributions (5)
delighted/rubyzip
Apr 2016 - Oct 2019
Offical Rubyzip repository
Contributions:6 PRs, 4 pushes, 3 branches in 3 years 6 months
railsruby-gemmrubyruby
kindjar/middleman-site-with-api
May 2015 - Feb 2023
Contributions:10 pushes, 1 branch in 7 years 10 months
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