Matt Layman

I’m Matt, a software creator. I organize Python Frederick, have a few open source projects, work at a startup, love my family, and go to church.

I like to write on technology topics with a focus on Python.

Frederick Technology

Frederick is a lovely small city to the Northwest of Washington, D.C. I’m involved in the technology scene to find community and foster a love of tech among my fellow citizens.

• I started Python Frederick in 2015 and continue to organize it (with some fantastic co-organizers).
• I helped coordinate the city’s first Hackathon.
• Through my efforts on a team of tech volunteers, we earned Frederick a finalist spot in Amazon’s 2017 City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge.

I care deeply about my home, and I push hard to make sure that its citizens have the opportunity to learn about technology.

Open Source

I enjoy spending time on many open source projects. Some are my own. Some are the work of many. All are fun.

Django REST Framework JSON API

In 2017, I picked up the torch as the maintainer of the Django REST Framework JSON API package. This package translates Django REST Framework API output into the JSON API format. I use this project for College Conductor to seamlessly communicate with my Ember frontend.

handroll

handroll is a tool to help build websites similar to this one. When there is a limited range of material and a simple design, handroll generates a website easily. Check it out on GitHub.

tappy

Automated software testing is generally useful, and the Test Anything Protocol (TAP) is a way to track those automated results. I wrote a set of TAP generators for Python that hook in with Python’s testing ecosystem. The core project is called tappy.

Work

I work at Storybird. Storybird makes it possible for people to share creative stories through book and poetry writing. I am the lead software engineer with the opportunity to make Storybird an even better place to share stories. I get to write Python and JavaScript every day and help make the internet more awesome.

Lockheed Martin was my employer. While there, I worked on a wide range of products. You might have heard of some of them, like GPS or satellite phones. I also gained experience with Modeling and Simulation software, web applications, and complex configuration management implementations.

Family

I am a family man. I consider myself blessed to have a loving wife, Elease, and two great kids, Mark and Faye. My children are young so my life is a little hectic, but that’s perfectly fine with me.

Church

I am a Christian, and I attend New Hope OPC. My hope is that my faith reflects on all of my behavior, and that I show kindness, humility, and love.