Expert, custom Web and Database development
Luc started programming in 1981 at age 12, using TRS-80 computers with cassette tape drives, purchased by his junior high school with money raised by his older siblings and their classmates (for which Luc is, for the record, very grateful). After attending the first computer camp ever held in his area and learning to program on Radio Shack, Apple, IBM, and Commodore computers as well as the occasional mainframe, he quickly progressed to writing business applications for his mother, an insurance agent, using her new Kaypro portable computer. At the age of 13, at the local record shop in Burlington, he bought his own first computer, a VIC-20, using money from his newspaper route.
Luc began working with database applications, initially Microsoft Access, Foxpro, and dBase, in 1993, and he was amazed to find that Access could be automated using a version of the BASIC programming language he had learned on the TRS-80. After picking up Access development at his office job, he struck out on his own, forming a small custom software development company outside Philadelphia, which he ran until the birth of his son in 1998. At that point, he was forced to decide between the business and having time to spend with his family. He chose family and went to work as a contractor or employee for a series of business that eventually included the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, FMC corporation, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, and others.
Despite his fascination with what computers can do, Luc thinks they aren't very important compared to the people who use them, and accordingly he programs with more of an interest in how they'll be used than out of an abstract interest in coding ideas.
In his so-called spare time, Luc is also a professional writer of fiction, non-fiction, and plays. He's a third degree black belt and assists in teaching at Blue Wave Taekwondo in South Burlington, Vermont. He is also an enthusiast of languages and of playing music.
Work Terms
Free initial consultation and project quote. As an alternative to hourly work, projects with detailed specifications can be undertaken for a flat fee, and some projects can qualify for a self-funding model, where you pay nothing out of pocket and payment comes as a percentage of site transactions up to a capped amount.
I'm invested in clear communication and get the most satisfaction out of a job that makes someone's life easier or opens up new opportunities--projects that make a clear, positive impact on people's lives.
For larger projects, I prefer working with phases or milestones, so that useful, working systems are delivered earlier and to encourage transparency and order.