Alan P. Barber

Software Developer, Computer Scientist, Scrum Master, & Crohn’s Disease Fighter

Barber Investment Group

Improving

Biography

Software Architect, Application Developer, Web Developer, & Database Developer. I specialize in Software Development with a focus on Architecture and Design. I have worked with both hardware and software throughout my career. I mainly develop for the Microsoft .Net stack.

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Interests

Artificial Intelligence
Crypto-Currency
Distributed Computing
Software Architecture

Education

Exam 70-480 - Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3, 2014
Microsoft
Professional Scrum Master I, 2012
Scrum.Org
BS in Computer Science, 2004
Bowling Green State University

Experience

My professional work history.
View my LinkedIn profile

Principal Consultant

Improving

Mar 2012 – Present Columbus, Ohio

A consultant providing development services with specialization in ReactJS, AngularJS, KnockoutJS, ASP.NET, C#, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Azure based technologies.

Consultant

Quick Solutions (now Fusion Alliance)

Jan 2011 – Mar 2012 Columbus, Ohio

A consultant providing development services with specialization in ASP.NET, C# and Microsoft SQL Server based technologies.

Senior Programmer

Corporate Research International

Nov 2005 – Jan 2011 Findlay, Ohio

Web Developer, Database Administrator, Phone Systems. I may have been a programmer by title but I was the manager of all things IT. I dealt with both software development as well as hardware issues.

Recent Posts

Read my blog!
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The Template Method Pattern for C# Developers

Define the steps of a process once in a base class and let subclasses fill in only the parts that change. The Template Method pattern keeps the flow in one place and makes each variation easy to spot.

Oct 26, 2026 8 min read

The Strangler Fig Pattern for C# Developers

Replace a legacy system gradually instead of all at once. The Strangler Fig pattern lets a new system grow around the old one, one feature at a time, until the legacy code can be safely retired.

Sep 5, 2026 9 min read

The Builder Pattern for C# Developers

Construct complex objects step-by-step with clean, readable code. The Builder pattern eliminates constructor overloads and makes object creation intuitive and maintainable.

Jul 18, 2026 11 min read

The Observer Pattern for C# Developers

React to changes without tight coupling. The Observer pattern lets multiple parts of your system respond to events independently, keeping your code clean and extensible.

Jun 22, 2026 8 min read

The Adapter Pattern for C# Developers

Integrate third-party SDKs without coupling your code to their quirks. The Adapter pattern translates external interfaces into ones your application controls.

May 16, 2026 6 min read

Talks

Talks available for user groups, code camps, and conferences.

A Quick Look at the Result Pattern

A Quick Look at the Result Pattern - Making exceptions more exceptional!

Blazor - Taking .Net to the Spa

Blazor lets you build interactive web UIs using C# instead of JavaScript.

CQRS + MediatR

Introduction to the CQRS pattern with MediatR

Customize the IDE: Building Extensions for Visual Studio Code

An introduction to Visual Studio Code extensions, from simple customization packs to full TypeScript-based extensions.

F# for C# Developers

F# for C# Developers

Microsoft Orleans

Building Highly Scalable Systems With Virtual Actors

NetArchTest

A fluent API for .Net that can enforce architectural rules in unit tests.

Passwords Don't Work! Using Two Factor Authentication To Secure Users

The Internet is a dangerous place and user passwords aren’t safe. Enter Two Factor Authentication (2FA) to the rescue!

Polly - The .NET Resilience Framework

Polly is a .NET resilience and transient-fault-handling library.

Tensors, Tokens & Too Much VRAM: A Developer's Guide to Running LLMs Locally

A developer-friendly tour of how LLMs work and what it takes to run them locally, from tokens and quantization to VRAM.

The MediatR Migration

The MediatR Migration:Navigating a Library Licensing Change

Projects

Open source projects I work on!
View my GitHub profile

ResultR

ResultR is a lightweight request/response dispatcher for .NET applications. It routes requests to handlers and wraps all responses in a Result type for consistent success/failure handling.

BitCheck

BitCheck is a fast, cross-platform CLI tool that detects file corruption by tracking file hashes over time. Perfect for monitoring important documents, photos, backups, and archives for gradual data degradation.

log4net.Appender.Splunk

A log4net appender for Splunk Http Event Collector (HEC) Sender

NLog.Targets.Splunk

A NLog target for Splunk Http Event Collector (HEC) Sender

CodeKatas

.Net Code Katas - A prebuild Kata project that already includes tests and base classes.

TwoFactorNet

A library that provides support for the creation of One Time Passwords.