David Schoutens
Mentor
(87 reviews)
US$25.00
For every 15 mins
179
Sessions/Jobs
ABOUT ME
Software Development Skills and Career Mentor
Software Development Skills and Career Mentor
Full-stack software craftsman and technical leader with over 15 years of experience. Equally adept at system design, programming, technical leadership, mentorship, and business collaboration. Have a wide breadth of technical experience, but specialize in backend API development, relational databases, and web applications. Passionate about simplicity and efficiency.
I have worked at over a dozen companies large and small, in a handful of different domains. Also participated in hundreds of interviews, about half-and-half as the interviewer and the interviewee. I have given dozens of talks and training sessions on a variety of topics, mostly focusing on distributed systems, caching, and testing.
My top skills are Java, SQL, testing, and refactoring.
I have experience with formal academic and professional mentorship, and would love to help you skill up, solve a problem, or just nerd out with you today!
English
Eastern Time (US & Canada) (-05:00)
Joined February 2017
EXPERTISE
15 years experience | 19 endorsements
I have been hands-on with Java from version 1.5 up to Java 22. I can help you basics, advanced concurrency, and everything in between.
I have been hands-on with Java from version 1.5 up to Java 22. I can help you basics, advanced concurrency, and everything in between.
15 years experience
Most projects in my career have leveraged a relational SQL database. I have considerable expertise in SQL query performance optimization.
Most projects in my career have leveraged a relational SQL database. I have considerable expertise in SQL query performance optimization.
15 years experience | 3 endorsements
I have spent several focused years on JavaScript, Typescript, and web frameworks. I can help you navigate around the rough edges.
I have spent several focused years on JavaScript, Typescript, and web frameworks. I can help you navigate around the rough edges.
15 years experience
I can help you get more value out of your test suite and avoid pitfalls that make tests annoying and expensive to maintain.
I can help you get more value out of your test suite and avoid pitfalls that make tests annoying and expensive to maintain.
10 years experience
After focused training on refactoring, my approach to programming transformed. I can teach you this superpower (or fix your legacy codeba...
After focused training on refactoring, my approach to programming transformed. I can teach you this superpower (or fix your legacy codebase).
15 years experience
I can advise you on when to use a Factory, Builder, Proxy, Visitor, Strategy, etc (and how to avoid going overboard on patterns!).
I can advise you on when to use a Factory, Builder, Proxy, Visitor, Strategy, etc (and how to avoid going overboard on patterns!).
8 years experience | 1 endorsement
Git is ubiquitous, but most people only know the basics. I can help you go deep, or get you out of trouble if you fear you've made a mist...
Git is ubiquitous, but most people only know the basics. I can help you go deep, or get you out of trouble if you fear you've made a mistake.
REVIEWS FROM CLIENTS
(87 reviews)
Yazn Abdelal
January 2026
good
Darrell Cheng
January 2026
David is extremely knowledgeable and pleasant to chat to; provided exactly what I needed in terms of both resources and industry information to help me with my request.
Kelvin Ramirez
December 2025
Couldn't ask for a better mentor and sounding board.
IT Accounts
March 2025
David was great! Super quick to communicate, really available, helped me solve my problem (including teaching a super useful script) and understand why it was happening, and walked me through the process until we were sure it was resolved. Thank you!
Brian Kayfitz
January 2025
Truly Incredible mentor with a depth of knowledge about Java, Postgres and AWS that is rare to behold. David approaches challenges with humility and humour making him a joy to work with.
Geridog
January 2025
You won't find a better mentor than this guy. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the field and I never could have expected him to have been this good at explaining a concept to me.
James Mitchell
January 2025
David was ready with everything I needed to know, explained it in a way that was crystal-clear and easy to understand and gave me several options on ways to solve the problem. Along the way I learned a lot that will be useful for other projects. He is a pleasure to speak with and learn from. I highly recommend him to anyone needing help. He is a natural educator.
Julian Madrigal
November 2024
Excellent mentor! He is very patient and understanding.
william spencer
October 2024
Couldn't have asked for a better mentor.
Joe
October 2024
Very enthusiastic about teaching coding. Thank you David.
SOCIAL PRESENCE
devbox
Shell
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simple-jdbc
Java
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