Hi! My name is Alex Miller and I live in St. Louis. I write code for a living and currently work for as a tech lead for Terracotta Tech on the Terracotta open-source Java clustering product.

Prior to Terracotta I worked at BEA Systems and was Chief Architect at MetaMatrix. My main language for the last decade has been Java, although I’ve been paid to program in several languages over the years (C++, Python, Pascal, etc).

Here are some things about me that are true:

• I like nachos.
• I write software, mostly in Java.
• I have a wife and three children that somehow put up with me.
• I have a dog and a cat.
• I play (in rapidly decreasing level of skill) the viola, piano, guitar, and kazoo.
• I speak at various user groups and conferences including JavaOne, CodeMash, and the No Fluff Just Stuff conference tour.
• I think “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” by the Talking Heads is really an excellent song and you should check it out. I prefer the version from Stop Making Sense.
• I started programming with Logo in the second grade and haven’t really stopped coding since.
• “The Big Lebowski” is one of my favorite movies. But that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
• I tend to alternate between reading technical books, non-fiction, and hard sci-fi or more often one of each at the same time.
• I’ve lived most of my life in St. Louis.