David Q Mertz
Maine, United States
Summary
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RockstarDavid Mertz is a Principal Engineer and seasoned author with 13+ years of hands-on software experience and a long history of practical, research-informed writing—seven technical books and the widely read "Charming Python" column—bridging deep Python expertise with real-world engineering. He architects and leads data-driven systems, specializing in Python, text and data cleaning, NLP, and scientific computing, with consulting work spanning cryptography, data modeling, and regulatory domains. A frequent keynote speaker and longtime Python Software Foundation leader, he brings comparative, analytic perspective to documentation, training, and developer workflows as well as production code. Based in Portland, Maine, he runs KDM Training to deliver tailored PyData instruction and is helping steer engineering at SEIU, combining activist-aligned mission work with rigorous technical practice. Unusually for an engineer, he pairs a PhD-level background in philosophy with deep practical codecraft, which shows up in clear exposition and a knack for translating abstract concepts into usable tools.
13 years of coding experience
Github Skills (127)
programming-language10
python10
sklearn10
sparse-data10
pandas10
sparse-matrix10
data-science10
data-structure10
data-analysis10
data-structures10
qt9
numpy9
django9
coalescing9
multidimensional-arrays9
Programming languages (12)
Github contributions (5)
atlantistechnology/sdt
Oct 2022 - Dec 2022
Semantic comparison of versioned files with git awareness
Contributions:1 release, 217 commits, 6 PRs in 2 months
difflintsemanticstyleversion-control
DavidMertz/RegEx_Puzzles
Jul 2021 - Dec 2022
The Puzzling Quirks of Regular Expressions
Contributions:37 commits, 16 pushes in 1 year 5 months
regular-expression
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