About me

My name is Alberto Arena, and I’m Italian. I lived and worked in UK for 4 years, until I was finally back to the sunny Mediterranean sea in Sicily. I can see the wonderful Strait of Messina from my study window: that sight makes my days easier.

I am a visionary pragmatist who loves coding (I apologise for the oxymoron!). I’ve been working as a Web developer since 2005.

At the time being, I code mostly in PHP (Laravel, WordPress) and Javascript (lot of vanilla, VueJs).

You can follow me on X, formerly Twitter, or view my LinkedIn profile.

Background and interests

My first approach to programming world was in 1985, when I started coding with my glorious Commodore 64! I can still remember a program I wrote: it plotted all planets of solar system as “sprites”. It was a start that led me later to work with different languages like C and C++, Clipper, Delphi and finally PHP and Javascript.

I have a background of 9 years in C++ and Delphi, when I implemented data entry applications and ICR/OCR software using Borland products. Good old days! Now my daily work is different, but I didn’t lose my passion, and the desire to learn new things.

I’m currently working as lead developer of Midleton Distillery Collection, the official shop for Ireland’s finest and best loved whiskey brands (Jameson, Redbreast, Midleton Very Rare, Powers, Spot Whiskeys, Method & Madness and Knappogue Castle).

I have several personal interests, including reading, guitar, constructed languages, and hand-made dioramas.

Portfolio

You can see some of my projects on LinkedIn.