James Lissiak
Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft
Seattle, Washington, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolJames Lissiak is a Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft with 11+ years of experience specializing in performance diagnostics, profiling, and debugger implementation across C++, C#, and modern web technologies. He architects and ships tooling that spans devices and browsers, notably contributing to high-profile open-source projects such as Chrome DevTools and the VS Code Chrome/Edge debug extensions. His work blends deep systems-level expertise (C++/COM, debugger internals) with front-end accessibility and UX improvements, including measurable enhancements to DevTools performance monitoring and keyboard/screen-reader support. Based in Seattle, he brings a rare combination of production debugging know-how and build-system/tooling improvements, from source-maps to extension entrypoints. Colleagues rely on him to untangle complex performance issues and deliver developer-facing features that scale in real-world scenarios.
11 years of coding experience
12 years of employment as a software developer
Master’s Degree .NET Distributed Systems Development, Master’s Degree .NET Distributed Systems Development at University of Hull
Github Skills (28)
accessibility10
debugging10
debug10
javascript10
webview10
chrome-devtools-protocol10
css10
typescript10
vscode-extension10
ui-design10
remote-debugging10
devtools10
uid10
front-end-development10
chrome10
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
microsoft/vscode-edge-devtools
Mar 2019 - Nov 2019
A VSCode extension that allows you to use browser devtools from within the editor. The devtools will connect to an instance of Microsoft Edge giving you the ability to alter CSS styling, perform diagnostics, and debugging. Get it now at http://aka.ms/devtools-for-code
Role in this project:
Full-stack Developer
Full-stack DeveloperContributions:62 commits, 48 PRs, 53 pushes in 8 months
Contributions summary:James contributed to the development of a VSCode extension for Edge DevTools. Their initial commits set up the project structure and implemented the core functionality of the extension. They added an "attach" command and implemented updates to webpack and launch configs to fix source mapping for debugging. The user also focused on enhancing the UI by integrating a webview for displaying the devtools panel and adding content security policies for security.
abilitymicrosoft-edgemicrosoftbrowsercss
ChromeDevTools/devtools-frontend
Feb 2019 - Oct 2019
The Chrome DevTools UI
Role in this project:Front-end Developer & Accessibility Specialist
Front-end Developer & Accessibility SpecialistContributions:7 commits in 7 months
Contributions summary:James primarily contributed to enhancing the accessibility and user experience of the Chrome DevTools UI. They addressed accessibility issues in the Performance Monitor tool, focusing on keyboard navigation, color contrast, and screen reader compatibility. Additionally, the user implemented new settings and updated CSS to improve the display and usability of the Elements panel, including the inspect tooltip and tree outline contrast. Furthermore, the user added functionality to record launch performance metrics across multiple tools.
instrumentationreactjavascriptchromecdp
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