about me
From Movie Hackers
to Real Code.
It started with movies. You know the ones — green text flying across black screens, someone typing furiously and breaking into systems in thirty seconds. I watched that and thought: I want to do that. Turns out real development is less cinematic. But the pull? Still exactly the same.
the journey
I'm Aaron Ruben S. Bartolome — a Software Engineer building web products from Calbayog City, Philippines. I studied Information Technology at Northwest Samar State University and graduated in 2024.
I started at Summit Media as an intern in February 2024 and quickly moved into a full-time engineering role. In that time I shipped an enterprise CRM platform used by 15+ sales reps daily, built a page builder that halved the time it took content teams to publish, and led a homepage redesign that meaningfully improved PageSpeed and engagement.
The work I'm most proud of isn't the code — it's the outcome. Sales reps closing deals faster. Writers publishing without waiting on a developer. That's what I'm chasing: software that makes someone's day a little less annoying.
how i work
Deadlines Sharpen Me
Give me a tight deadline and I get dialed in. When my lead dropped a full CRM on my plate with a short runway, I didn't panic — I got excited. Pressure cuts the noise. I stop second-guessing and start shipping. Some of my best work came from the most constrained timelines.
I Write Code for the Next Person
That next person is usually me at 2am six months later. So I write like it matters — clear variable names, obvious state flow, comments where the "why" isn't obvious. Not because someone told me to. Because I've debugged enough mystery code to know it's not worth the shortcut.
I Think in Systems
I don't just build the UI — I think about the API contract behind it, the database shape driving it, and the user flow that leads to it. When something breaks, I trace it end-to-end. When I'm building something new, I design from the data outward. Frontend is where I live, but systems thinking is how I work.
Research Before I Build
Before I write a line, I understand the problem. I read docs, study how others solved it, look at tradeoffs. I use every tool available — AI included — to get up to speed fast. But the decisions are mine. I'm not looking for someone to give me the answer. I'm looking for enough context to make the right call.
what I've learned the hard way
That CRM I mentioned? I made real mistakes on it. Overcomplicated state in places where a simple ref would've done the job. Repeated patterns I should've abstracted earlier. Edge cases I found only after they hit production.
But I finished it. And I didn't feel broken after — I felt sharp. Because now I know what those mistakes look like before they happen. I can spot them in a PR, or catch them in my own draft before it ships. That kind of calibration doesn't come from reading about it.
beyond the code
When I'm not in the editor, I'm usually doing one of two things:
Running
I run local events when I can. There's something about a long run that untangles whatever problem I was stuck on. By the time I'm done, I usually know what to do.
Tinkering
If I'm not building something for work, I'm building something for curiosity. New framework, unfamiliar tool, random idea at 11pm — that's where most of what I know came from.
Both of these come down to the same thing: show up consistently, push when it's uncomfortable, and trust that the reps compound.
where i'm headed
Right now
Building production-grade web applications and shipping real features for real users.
This year
Going deeper on backend systems — APIs, databases, architecture — so I can own the full product.
2-year goal
Senior Engineer role where I can lead features, mentor teammates, and influence how the team builds.
Dream
Ship a SaaS product that actually solves a problem — something content teams or sales teams would pay for.
let's connect
I'm open to talking with
Fellow developers who love talking architecture and tradeoffs
Teams building tools that solve real workflow problems
Companies that ship fast and care about code quality
Anyone who wants to geek out about the web platform
Want to discuss
Frontend architecture and component design
Building for performance and accessibility
Research-driven development workflows
Going from zero to production on a side project
P.S. — Those movie hackers got one thing right: software is powerful. The difference is the real power isn't in breaking things — it's in building something that makes someone's work actually feel easier. That's the part I can't stop chasing.