Richie Friedland
Full Stack Developer
Java
Node JS
Python
SQL
C++
C
JavaScript
C#
Performance Optimization: 6/10
State Management & Data Flow: 6/10
UX & Visual Polish: 6/10
Active 7 days ago
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Overview
Technical skills
Timeline
Roles
Overview
A game-focused fullstack developer at a solid mid-to-senior level who built a real-time multiplayer Phaser client and an authoritative Node/Socket.IO server. The strongest proven skill is real-time state design and performance-aware synchronization, supported by concrete artifacts such as the server heartbeat update grouping and the client movement emit throttling/pendingInit buffering (server/index.js and client/src/main.js). Public code lacks formal test coverage, automated accessibility auditing, and server-side production-grade auth hardening (for example no HttpOnly session cookie handling is shown).
Technical skills
Java
Node JS• Senior
Python
SQL
C++
C
JavaScript• Senior
C#• Middle
Node JS
Sequelize
Bcrypt
Express
C#
.NET
Databases
SQLite
Frontend
Socket.IO
Vite
DevOps
Git
WebSockets
Rest API
Game Dev
Phaser
Unity
ShaderLab
AI/ML
ML-Agents
Reinforcement Learning
PyTorch
Management
Confluence
Jira
Timeline
AI Internship (IS&T)
•
Junior
Natera Inc.
•
Internship
Designed a Jira-based intake form to streamline stakeholder requests and improve visibility into AI project intake. Built solutions that integrate AI capabilities into internal workflows and business processes. Coordinated with multiple stakeholders to align technical deliverables with business needs and supported evaluation and integration of AI into existing enterprise systems.
Jira
University of California (Merced Campus)
Bachelor's Degree •
Computer Science
Project Lead, Full Stack Developer
•
Lead
Chamba Chamba
•
Full-Time
Led a team of 4 developers to design and build a full stack job matching platform for farm laborers and employment opportunities. Created backend systems and database architecture to support reliable and scalable data handling. Managed deployment workflows from development to production and coordinated requirements with embassy stakeholders while communicating progress to non-technical participants.
Google Workspace Administrator
•
Middle
Sierra Wildlife Rescue
•
Full-Time
Deployed and administered Google Workspace for a nonprofit operating under budget constraints. Configured domain settings, MX routing, and secure access controls to protect organizational data. Migrated legacy services to Google Workspace to improve collaboration across the organization.
Google Workspace
Senior Frontend Developer
Confidence: Medium Fullstack
A game-focused fullstack developer at a solid mid-to-senior level who built a real-time multiplayer Phaser client and an authoritative Node/Socket.IO server. The strongest proven skill is real-time state design and performance-aware synchronization, supported by concrete artifacts such as the server heartbeat update grouping and the client movement emit throttling/pendingInit buffering (server/index.js and client/src/main.js). Public code lacks formal test coverage, automated accessibility auditing, and server-side production-grade auth hardening (for example no HttpOnly session cookie handling is shown).
UI Component Architecture
4/10
How interface parts are built
Well-structured DOM-driven UI for a game with modular functions and clear separation of concerns but not a component-based design system or reusable component library.
Evidence
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: syncControlsUI / setupActionKeys / applySelectedChroma (UI control logic)
mario-multiplayer/client/index.html: modal and screen DOM structure (auth, lobby, settings, chroma)
mario-multiplayer/client/src/style.css: consistent tokens and UI layout rules
Responsive & Cross-browser
3/10
Works on all screens and browsers
Basic responsive layout and viewport handling with some usability touches, but no advanced responsive patterns, RTL/i18n scaffolding, or explicit feature-detection.
Evidence
mario-multiplayer/client/src/style.css: layout using vw/vh, flexible grid, modal responsiveness
mario-multiplayer/client/index.html: meta viewport and progressive layout for multiple screens
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: keyboard suppression while typing to avoid cross-input capture
Performance Optimization
6/10
Speed of the interface
Concrete, measured performance and bandwidth-conscious decisions both client and server side - interpolation, emit throttling, grouping updates, cache-aside leaderboards and reduced heartbeat frequency.
Evidence
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: EMIT_THRESHOLD_MS / MOVE_THRESHOLD and lerp interpolation for smoothing movement
mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: setInterval heartbeat grouping levelUpdates and broadcasting per-level rooms (~30 FPS)
mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: leaderboardCaches with CACHE_TTL and background refresh (cache-aside pattern)
Accessibility & Semantics
3/10
Usable for everyone
Some pragmatic accessibility and focus handling for input flows and modals, plus keyboard handling protections. No systematic ARIA, automated a11y checks, or custom widget accessibility patterns present.
Evidence
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: isTyping(), global keydown/keyup listeners that stop propagation for form inputs
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: focus management when switching login/signup modals (focus first input)
State Management & Data Flow
6/10
Managing data in the app
Strong server-authoritative state design and careful client-server state handling with explicit race mitigation, buffering, cache invalidation and restart/warp synchronization. Lacks formal typed contracts or test coverage but shows deliberate server-client state discipline.
Evidence
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: pendingInit buffering for initMap/currentPlayers/initEnemies to avoid race conditions
mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: authoritative lobby state, per-level rooms, WarpPlayer/RestartLevel/EndLevel flows and playerMovement handling
mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: leaderboardCaches, CACHE_TTL and refreshAllLeaderboards background refresh
UX & Visual Polish
6/10
Look and feel quality
Polished UX for a game: modal flows, results and victory screens, responsive HUD, in-game pause/resume logic and chroma preview with pixel manipulation for visual polish and perceived responsiveness.
Evidence
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: renderResults, showScreen, victory/results flows and HUD timer management
mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: chroma modal preview (canvas manipulation) and applySelectedChroma live updates
mario-multiplayer/client/src/style.css: detailed retro UI styling and modal/ HUD design
Expertise
Frontend Architecture & Build Tools• Middle
Web Performance & Optimization• Middle
Industries
Gaming• Middle
Technologies
JavaScript• Senior
Node JS• Senior
Express
Socket.IO
Vite
Sequelize
Recommendations
- Lead development of real-time multiplayer gameplay features and server-authoritative simulation components (gameplay balancing, entity replication, anti-cheat hooks).
- Implement a focused performance & telemetry effort - add RUM, bundle analysis and server metrics to quantify LCP/INP and CPU/latency hotspots.
- Harden backend authentication and session handling and add integration tests - migrate session tokens out of JS-accessible storage and add rate limiting and unit/integration tests for lobby flows.
- Extract UI pieces into reusable components or a small design system (settings modals, leaderboards, admin tables) to make future features faster to ship and easier to test.
Repositories
The developer's experience in this domain has been verified based on AI analysis of the following repositories:
Middle Backend Developer
Confidence: Medium API Engineer
A backend developer focused on real-time game servers and multiplayer flow, operating at a solid middle-to-senior level for single-process, real-time systems. The strongest proven skill is designing and implementing a WebSocket-based game server with per-level rooms, a 30 FPS physics heartbeat that batches and diffs updates, and cache-aside leaderboards - implemented in server/index.js and coordinated with the client code in client/src/main.js. What is not evidenced are production-grade ops patterns such as multi-process scaling, migrations and versioned schema evolution, structured observability, or formal auth token lifecycle management.
API Design
4/10
How well APIs are designed
APIs are functional and consistent but lack formal versioning, explicit idempotency keys, pagination patterns, or documented error contracts; Socket.IO event API is well structured though mostly ad hoc. Authentication routes and admin endpoints are present but not versioned and rely on header-based admin checks.
Evidence
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/auth.js: setupAuthRoutes (signup/login/auto-login endpoints)
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: admin routes and adminMiddleware (GET /api/admin/users, /api/admin/scores)
Data Layer & Database
4/10
Working with databases
Uses Sequelize with concrete models and aggregate queries, but no migration history or deliberate schema-evolution scripts; uses sequelize.sync({ alter: true }) which is convenient but not production-grade migration practice.
Evidence
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: HighScore and PvPWin model definitions and aggregated leaderboard queries (sequelize.fn/ group)
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: initDb calling sequelize.sync({ alter: true })
Scalability & Performance
5/10
Handling load and speed
Clear attention to runtime performance and scaling within a single process: cache-aside leaderboards with TTL and background refresh, room-scoped broadcasts to reduce network fanout, batched physics heartbeat and entity diffing; lacks multi-process/sharding strategy and formal rate-limiting at the HTTP/socket boundary.
Evidence
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: leaderboardCaches, CACHE_TTL, refreshAllLeaderboards() and setInterval(refreshAllLeaderboards)
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: physics heartbeat setInterval(..., 33) that groups levelUpdates per level and emits only diffs
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/client/src/main.js: EMIT_THRESHOLD_MS and MOVE_THRESHOLD client-side throttling
System Architecture
4/10
Overall system structure
Reasonable module boundaries for map parsing, auth, and server logic; good use of socket.io rooms and per-level separation; architecture is monolithic and single-process which is fine for prototype but lacks orchestration, config/secret management integration, and multi-service decomposition.
Evidence
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/map.js: map parsing and buildLevel exported functions
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: createLobby/closeLobby, use of `${lobby.id}_${levelId}` rooms and broadcastLobbyList()
Security & Auth
3/10
Protecting data and access
Basic auth hygiene is present - bcrypt password hashing and opaque session tokens - but session handling is simplistic and admin authorization relies on an x-user-id header; input validation exists for auth endpoints but broader boundary hardening (CSRF, token expiry/rotation, secure admin flows) is minimal.
Evidence
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/auth.js: bcryptjs.hash() on signup and crypto.randomBytes for sessionToken
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: adminMiddleware reads x-user-id header to authorize admin endpoints
Reliability & Observability
3/10
Stability and monitoring
There are pragmatic reliability patterns like try/catch around DB operations, restartTimeout guards, and isPaused flags, but essential SRE practices are missing such as graceful shutdown, structured logging, metrics, health endpoints, and robust retry/backoff for external IO.
Evidence
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: try/catch in refreshAllLeaderboards and database write sections
Super-Mario-In-Reallife/mario-multiplayer/server/index.js: restartTimeout / lobby.levelIsRestarting logic used to avoid duplicate restarts
Expertise
Node.js• Middle
Messaging & Real-time• Middle
Microservices & API Architecture• Middle
Industries
Gaming• Senior
Technologies
Python
Java
SQL
Rest API
.NET
WebSockets
Bcrypt
Git
SQLite
Recommendations
- Lead implementation of real-time multiplayer features and game-server logic (WebSocket rooms, authoritative physics, entity diffing).
- Build and harden backend APIs and persistence for small-to-medium scale game services including leaderboard caching, persistence, and auth flows.
- Extend into operationalizing the service: add migrations, multi-process scaling (cluster or worker model), health/metrics, and structured logging.
Repositories
The developer's experience in this domain has been verified based on AI analysis of the following repositories:
Middle Game Developer
Confidence: Medium Technical Artist
A Unity-focused technical-artist at a middle experience level who produces playable game-jam prototypes plus custom shader work. The strongest proven skill is shader authoring and integrating custom TextMeshPro shaders (see TMP_SDF.shader and related overlay/SSD shader files). The public artifacts show limited systems engineering on gameplay (tight coupling, Find()/Instantiate in hot paths), no profiling or CI, and no evidence of multiplayer, deterministic simulation, or editor-tool pipelines.
Gameplay Systems & Mechanics
2/10
How game logic works
Basic gameplay systems present (upgrade/shop/level spawner) but implemented in a tightly-coupled, imperative style with heavy Find/Instantiate/Destroy usage and no clear decoupled state machines or test coverage.
Graphics & Rendering
4/10
Drawing game visuals
Non-trivial shader code present (distance-field text shading, bevel, underlay, glow, specular/reflection logic) demonstrating shader authoring and shading pipeline knowledge, though it appears targeted at TextMeshPro rather than low-level render systems.
Evidence
RichieJr1111/GameJamAqua/Assets/TextMesh Pro/Shaders/TMP_SDF.shader: VertShader and PixShader implementations
RichieJr1111/GameJamAqua/Assets/TextMesh Pro/Shaders/TMP_SDF SSD.shader: custom PixShader/VertShader with SRGBToLinear/GetColor/Bevel logic
RichieJr1111/GameJamAqua/Assets/TextMesh Pro/Shaders/TMP_SDF Overlay.shader: overlay pass and UNITY_UI_CLIP_RECT handling
Physics & Math
1/10
Game physics and math
Minimal original physics/math work - scenes include Unity physics components but there is no authored integrator, spatial partitioning, deterministic simulation, or custom collision code.
Engine Proficiency
2/10
Skill with the game engine
Comfortable with Unity features (SceneManager, EventSystem, TextMeshPro, Time.timeScale) and shader integration; limited evidence of higher-level engine tooling (no custom editor windows, importers, or multi-scene/Addressables architecture).
Performance & Frame Budget
1/10
Keeping the game smooth
Little evidence of frame-budget optimisation or profiling - hot-path anti-patterns (Find/Instantiate/Destroy in gameplay loop) and no profiler metrics, pooling or zero-alloc patterns present.
Content Pipeline & Tooling
1/10
Tools for game content
Basic content pipeline and scene composition skills (Unity scenes, TextMeshPro integration, shader assets) but no automation, import pipelines, CI, or editor tooling to support scalable content workflows.
Expertise
Gameplay & Mechanics Development• Junior
Graphics & Rendering• Middle
Industries
Gaming• Middle
Technologies
C
C#• Middle
C++
Unity
Phaser
ShaderLab
Recommendations
- Assign to polish visuals and UI - author and iterate on shaders, materials and text rendering (expand the TMP shaders into reusable variants).
- Use for small-to-medium Unity prototypes focused on presentation and VFX where rapid iteration matters (game jams, vertical slices).
- Pair with a gameplay engineer to refactor gameplay logic into event-driven systems, reduce Find()/Instantiate hot paths and add pooling and profiling instrumentation.
- Develop editor-side tooling (custom inspectors or small editor windows) to formalize shader/material parameters and reduce manual scene configuration.
Repositories
The developer's experience in this domain has been verified based on AI analysis of the following repositories: