About Hong - Full-Stack Java Engineer

Professional Journey

My background is unconventional. I spent several years in digital agencies and creative roles—project management, conceptual development, and client-facing work. This taught me something crucial: great engineering isn't just about technical excellence. It's about understanding business problems, making pragmatic decisions, and shipping value.

A few years ago, I made the transition to serious software development. Since then, I've built deep expertise in Java/Spring Boot, Test-Driven Development, clean architecture patterns, and AWS services. But that hybrid background matters—it means I think about problems from both engineering and business perspectives.

Today, my sweet spot is taking complex business problems and architecting sophisticated technical solutions. Whether it's AI chatbots, fraud detection systems, or biometric authentication—I enjoy the full spectrum: from initial architecture decisions to deployment and optimization.

What I Care About

Code Quality: TDD, clean architecture, readable code. Technical debt compounds; I minimize it.
Testing: 85%+ coverage is standard. I test behavior, not implementation details.
Understanding Tools: I don't just use frameworks. I understand why they exist and when to use alternatives.
Problem-First Thinking: The best code solves real problems. Pretty architecture solving imaginary problems is waste.
Continuous Learning: AWS services, AI models, security patterns—the tech landscape changes. I stay current.

Technical Expertise

Languages & Frameworks

Java 17+: Core language expertise
Spring Boot: Building scalable web applications
Spring Security: Authentication & authorization patterns
Spring Data: Database integration with Hibernate/JPA
TypeScript: CDK, modern web development

AWS Services

EC2, App Runner: Application deployment
S3, CloudFront: Static hosting & CDN
RDS: Managed PostgreSQL databases
Bedrock, Textract, Rekognition: AI services
Lambda, API Gateway: Serverless patterns

Databases & Data

PostgreSQL: Relational database design
Hibernate ORM: Object-relational mapping
SQL: Complex queries, optimization
Data modeling: Schema design for scalability

DevOps & Tools

Docker: Containerization & Docker Compose
AWS CDK: Infrastructure as Code (TypeScript)
Git: Version control & branching strategies
CI/CD: GitHub Actions, automated testing
Monitoring: CloudWatch, structured logging

Certifications

AWS Certified Solutions Architect: Associate level
AWS Certified Developer: Associate level
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator: Associate level

My Development Philosophy

Test-Driven Development

I write tests before code. This isn't dogmatism—it's pragmatism. Tests are my safety net for refactoring and my documentation for future developers.

Clean Architecture

Systems designed with clear separation of concerns. Business logic independent from frameworks. Easy to test, easy to understand, easy to modify.

Pragmatic Over Perfect

The best code is code that's shipped. I make conscious trade-offs between perfection and delivery. Sometimes 80% is the right answer.

Learning from Mistakes

Every archived project (like FaceAuth) taught me something valuable. I share these learnings openly. Growth comes from understanding what didn't work.

Beyond Code

Languages: I'm multilingual—German, English, French, Vietnamese. Language learning mirrors programming in interesting ways. Both require pattern recognition and consistent practice.

Writing: I believe in explaining technical concepts clearly. If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it deeply enough. This website is part of that philosophy.

Problem-Solving: Whether technical or business challenges, I enjoy the puzzle. Debugging a database query is the same satisfaction as solving a design problem—finding the root cause and eliminating it.

About Me