Who is JD? · Bio

Jonathan “JD” Danylko

A simple, humble developer who loves sharing what he learns about ASP.NET, web technologies and the tools around them. The Internet was such a revolutionary technology that I had to become part of it.

My last name is pronounced Dan-el-ko or Dan-Yell-Ko. People have trouble with it (no, not Jonathan), so I go by J.D. It’s simpler.

Jonathan “JD” Danylko
  • 45 years programming, since I was 11
  • 35 years writing code professionally, since 1991
  • Columbus, OH home since ’99
  • Author of ASP.NET 8 Best Practices

The path so far

I was debating whether to write this page, but I wanted you to see how a career that began in my teens turned into what you’re reading now. It’s a path, not horn-tooting.

  1. 1981, age 11

    A Commodore VIC-20 for Christmas

    My parents gave me a VIC-20. I eventually got the 32K memory expansion, moved up to a Commodore 128 in later years, and then to IBM compatibles.

  2. My teens

    A CRM for my mother’s real estate business

    She needed a way to track prospects, so I wrote one in BASIC on the Commodore 128.

  3. 1991

    My first consulting job

    A company asked me to help fix their Clipper code and reports.

  4. 1993

    My first professional job

    One of the best companies to work for in America hired me as a Clipper developer, and I moved into Delphi. I had been experimenting with the Internet on my own; when they found out, they asked me to help build the company’s website. I was featured in the company magazine in February 1996 (and yes, my nickname was “Vito”).

    EFM (Erie Family Magazine) cover of the February 1996 edition
    The February 1996 cover
    EFM (Erie Family Magazine) inside cover of the February 1996 edition
    The inside cover
  5. 1995

    Two international programming competitions

    I didn’t win, but I was proud of writing my own tools in Clipper to build systems quickly. I placed 36th; IBM sent their Visual Age team and they came in 44th. The life lessons I took from it.

  6. 1999

    Moved to Columbus, OH, and started this CMS

    I worked for two startups, where I was the:

    • Software architect
    • Release and configuration manager (now called CI/CD)
    • Troubleshooter
    • Trainer
    • QA tester
    • UI designer
    • Usability tester
    • Code reviewer

    That same year I created my own CMS. It started as Classic ASP with an Access back end, became WebForms once I learned .NET, and then ASP.NET MVC. This site now runs on its latest iteration, rebuilt on ASP.NET Core. You’re on it right now!

  7. 2002

    Freelance, since the bubble burst

    When the IT bubble burst I couldn’t find a job for six months. After knocking on doors and reading the newspapers, I found something, and I’ve run my own freelance company ever since, working as a web architect.

  8. December 29, 2023

    My first book

    Thanks to Packt Publishing I published ASP.NET 8 Best Practices, on my dad’s birthday. It packs in over 200 best practices for building production-scale ASP.NET websites. Buy it on Amazon.

    ASP.NET Core 8 Best Practices on Amazon
  9. Today

    Consulting and freelancing

    I work full time as an Insight consultant and I’m happy there, and I still freelance as a web architect part-time.

Books and writing

ASP.NET 8 Best Practices

Over 200 best practices for building production-scale ASP.NET websites, published by Packt in December 2023.

Get the book

An ASP.NET MVC tutorial for Udemy

A training company asked me for a 7,500-word beginner’s guide to ASP.NET MVC.

Co-technical editor

I was a co-technical editor for Server-side Flash.

Server-side Flash book cover
The cover
Server-side Flash book displaying the credits page
The credits page

The C# Advent

Matt Groves hosts the C# Advent every December: authors each pick a C# topic and write an article for a day of the month. I’ve written for it since the very first one in 2017. If you want high-quality C# articles, read through all the years (and thank Matt for organizing it):

Recognition and credentials

Four technology awards

Received during my time at a Fortune 500 company:

  • Two I4 awards (Innovation, Intelligence, Interaction, Integrity)
  • Technology Leadership Award
  • Sharpshooter Award
The four awards I received from a company

Certifications

  • M CIW D, Master Certified Internet Webmaster Site Designer and eCommerce (expired)
  • MMCP, Macromedia Certified Professional (expired)
  • Delphi Enterprise Client/Server Developer

Talks and interviews

Two skills have stayed with me throughout my career: picking up new languages (BASIC, Clipper, Delphi, HTML/CSS/JavaScript, .NET/C#, now ASP.NET Core) and building the whole thing.

How I work

This approach has followed me throughout my career, and it keeps me in line (although sometimes I cheat).

  1. Get it functional. Usually it doesn’t matter what it takes: get it working first (and yes, slop counts).
  2. Get it testable. Write tests so you know the code works and returns what you expect.
  3. Get it refactored. Now you can clean up the code. After every clean-up, run the tests to confirm nothing broke.

What I believe about succeeding

These come from my inspirational and motivational collection.

  • Follow your heart, and don’t listen to anybody but yourself
  • Be persistent. Never give up!
  • Be nice
  • DO, don’t wish!
  • Learn to learn
  • Finish what you started

Find me elsewhere