Hiya, I'm Rocky Madden.

I'm a software engineer who has passions in the lower-end of the spectrum, with particular emphasis on machine learning, natural language processing, concurrent and functional programming, numerical analysis, big data, and polyglot data persistence (document, graph, key/value, columnar, and relational databases).

Freelancing Get in Touch

Colorado grown code.

My home is Fort Collins, but I solve problems and work with organizations worldwide.

I love algorithms.

Natural language processing, optical recognition, and probability distribution are just a few types.

stringmetric Scala Project

String metrics and phonetic algorithms for Scala (e.g. Dice, Hamming, Jaccard, Jaro-Winkler, Levenshtein, Metaphone, Monge-Elkan, N-Gram, Needleman-Wunch, NYSIIS, Ratcliff-Obershelp, Refined NYSIIS, Refined Soundex, Soundex, Weighted Levenshtein).

Released via the Apache License v2.0.

Maven Central

prefixmap Scala Gist

I love software stacks.

Solid stacks keep you focused on development and producing.

Scala, Clojure, and Python are my go-to languages for machine learning, numerical computing and analysis, natural language processing, mapreduce, general backend, web apps, you name it. The Prismatic architecture encapsulates many of my own approaches.
Tools of the trade for polyglot persistence are Postgres, MongoDB, Neo4j, HBase, and Redis. Each storage system type lends itself to certain problems better than others, which leads to a mix being used on any sizable project.
Tapping into open source projects provides huge gains. To name a few, besides languages and databases: Linux, FreeBSD, Xen, XCP, nginx, Jetty, Tomcat, Gradle, Jenkins, Akka, Play, Scalatra, numerous Apache projects, and hundreds of smaller projects on GitHub.

I love hardware and ops.

Great hardware and operations are the foundation for stellar services.

Hand crafted x86 Supermicro servers coupled with deep knowledge of datacenter operations, codebase performance profiles, and load distribution strategies can reduce operational costs over services like AWS by at least half.
Leveraging Xen, FreeBSD, and Ubuntu it is possible to create private clouds that are reliable, scalable, and performant. Hardware and networking done well coupled with automation can take this even further.
Combine solid *nix and service administration knowledge, a Chef-like codebase with unique features, automation, and treating entities immutably reduces admin hours per week to just one or two, even with racks of servers.
10u Colocation Microcloud Example

I love other things too.

I am a:

Business and startup enthusiast. Models and operations, in particular, are fascinating.
Person who enjoys working with talented and passionate people who take pride in their craft.
Believer in volunteering and products which have positive impacts on humanity.
Person who values ethics, open disclosure and communication, and honest reflection.