MEET PATRICK

After a career as an independent recording engineer, Patrick Murphy knew it was time for a career outside of the music industry. “It [became] pretty clear that if I ever hoped to have a retirement, I'd have to look elsewhere for work,” he laughed.

Having fond memories of teaching himself BASIC from the ring-bound book that came with his brand new Apple ][+, Patrick didn’t have to think long about the type of career change he wanted to make. 

He was introduced to Nashville Software School (NSS) through friends that had completed bootcamp themselves. “The fact that [NSS] was more in-depth and comprehensive than other non-computer-science degree programs sealed the deal,” he explains. 

THE NSS EXPERIENCE

For Patrick, NSS was a bright spot during 2020, partly because of all the new friends he made during his time in Web Development Cohort 41. “What a perfect way to [spend] half of 2020,” he smiles. 

When asked what advice he would share with future or current NSS students, Patrick says, “Don't neglect a language as you move on to something new. Keep writing code utilizing it, even if it's just something simple.”

CAPSTONE PROJECTS

For his front-end capstone, Patrick created HandpickT, a home gardening application that allows users to keep track of the growth in their garden. Gardeners can leave themselves notes on what they did in their gardens each week as well as archive plants for future seasons. HandpickT features a search function that allows its users to search the app’s entire database for keywords. Patrick built HandpickT using React.js utilizing JSON Server to expose a mock database file.

ContractThis, Patrick’s back-end capstone, helps homeowners keep track of home improvement projects by breaking them into smaller, easier to manage sections. Homeowners can also  document each step of the project by uploading photos directly to the application. If the homeowner has a project they are not able to complete themselves, they can also contact other homeowners through the application to see if they’re available to hire for the job. Patrick built ContractThis using React 17 client and an ASP.NET WebAPI exposing a SQL Server Express database. 

HIRED! 

Patrick accepted a junior web developer position with SAFE Health Systems Inc. in late November. “I will bring that same drive, determination, and creativity to my new role as a software developer,” Patrick shares of his new job on LinkedIn. 

Patrick also has plans to build out a proper server-side for his front-end capstone, HandpickT, and deploy it. 

My experience with complex signal flow, problem solving, troubleshooting, and session leadership have lent themselves well to my entry into software development.

Learn more about Patrick’s NSS experience by listening to his podcast or visiting his LinkedIn page! 

Check out all the recent grads at Web Development Cohort 41's class website and hear the graduates share their experience at NSS and capstone projects in their podcasts below.