John Harrison
SETI at Google
Seattle, Washington, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolJohn Harrison is a seasoned software engineer with 17 years of experience, currently building iOS systems at Google after a multi-year stint on Kindle software at Amazon. He holds a Masters in Software Engineering from Auburn University, where he worked on robotics and embedded-system emulation to improve testing fidelity. Comfortable across C, C++, Objective-C, Python and JavaScript, he blends low-level embedded expertise with app and build-system work—evident from contributions to LLVM’s lldb-dap and cross-platform serial libraries. His open-source work shows a knack for reliability and tooling, improving debugging, memory safety, and Windows compatibility in widely used projects. Based in Seattle, he brings a practical researcher's mindset to production engineering, especially around compilers, embedded systems, and iOS build infrastructure.
17 years of coding experience
10 years of employment as a software developer
Masters, Computer Science, Masters, Computer Science at Auburn University
Github Skills (14)
debugging10
c-language10
serial-communication10
lib10
cprogramming-language10
lldb10
llvm10
cpp-library9
testing9
boost9
multiplatform9
c-library9
json9
cross-platform9
Programming languages (14)
Github contributions (5)
llvm/llvm-project
Jun 2023 - Apr 2026
The LLVM Project is a collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies.
Role in this project:
Backend Developer
Backend DeveloperContributions:585 reviews, 224 PRs, 110 pushes in 2 years 10 months
Contributions summary:John primarily contributed to the lldb-dap backend, focusing on improving the Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP) implementation within the LLVM project. Their work involved refactoring code related to breakpoints, exception handling, and stack trace requests to enhance performance and functionality. They also added new features like custom event handling and server mode support, demonstrating a strong understanding of the DAP and lldb internals. Furthermore, the user contributed to output redirection and testing, improving the overall debugging experience.
compilerllvmtoolchain
wjwwood/serial
Mar 2011 - Feb 2012
Cross-platform, Serial Port library written in C++
Role in this project:Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:41 commits in 10 months
Contributions summary:John primarily focused on refactoring and improving the `serial` library. Their contributions involved significant code modifications to improve memory management, specifically removing pointers to prevent leaks. They also added functionality such as the `read_until` function and addressed various issues related to Windows compatibility and timeout behavior. Furthermore, the user implemented several methods to enhance the library's features.
cppserial-port
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