Jake Kronika, a web designer and developer with over fifteen years of experience, brings to this book a strong background in frontend development with JavaScript and AJAX, as well as exposure to the Django framework.
Having earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2005, with a minor in Business Administration, Jake went on to become Senior User Interface (UI) Specialist for Imaginary Landscape, LLC, a small web development firm in Ravenswood, on the north side of Chicago. In this role, the foundations of his strengths in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript (JS) were built, as well as extensive use of Python and the Django Framework.
From there, Jake went on to work for the Sun-Times News Group, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and numerous suburban newspapers in Chicagoland. It was in this role that he was initially exposed and rapidly became an expert with the jQuery framework for JS.
Following an intermediate position as Technology Consultant with Objective Arts, Inc, Jake has worked as UI Prototyper for JP Morgan Chase since February 2010. Since 1999, he has also operated Gridline Design & Development, a sole proprietorship for web design, development, and administration.
Michael Szul has designed and developed software applications for Fortune 500 companies, including AIG and Praxair, since 1998. Later, he served as a senior software engineer for the technology division of Performance Media Group, contributing to their fast growth and success, including placement on the Inc. 5000.
Szul's expertise in social software development led to a lateral move within the company to become the director of development for their travel social network. He even built successful social software for companies such as Apple Vacations and Conde Naste's Gourmet Magazine.
As a partner at Barbella Digital, Inc., he currently designs and develops enterprise-level workflow systems and mobile applications for educational institutions.