I am Jesse Dhillon, a writer, artist, web developer and gamer. This site is here to inform you about my professional and creative pursuits and interests — I used to keep a blog but it took too much time and wasn’t really related to what I am trying to get done.

Creative

Right now I am working on producing comics and graphic novels with a purpose beyond good story telling. I am creating plots which use historical events as devices to illuminate the lesser seen aspects of humanity. My hope is that people reading my stories will be reminded of their own humanity and the humanity of others: those about whom they may know very little or already have opinions and prejudices.

I am focusing on learning how to write compelling stories, generate emotional intensity within the reader and create characters that people can care about. My great dream is to combine my love of great storytelling with my love of video games, which I think are the greatest storytelling format ever. My goal in the next 5-10 years is to transition out of web development and arrive at a position in the game industry where I have creative and design responsibilities, although at the moment I’m a little unclear as to how my current skills will get me to such a position.

Apart from expressing my hope that people can see the humanity of others, my comics and writing also serve to demonstrate my writing talent and my ability to produce creative projects by managing a creative team.

Technical

I’m an experienced Javascript, PHP and Python developer and I always am working on some project or another with my web development and design skills.

For Javascript frontends, I use the amazing Sencha framework (formerly Ext JS). Frankly, it’s the best there is. The API is consistent and the container pattern has been exquisitely implemented. I used to use Prototype and Scriptaculous, but the performance is pretty much the worst of all the frameworks and I found it to be bloated. I also use jQuery when I don’t need something as heavy as Sencha.

For the backend, I’m a believer in Python. Hell, I would never use Ruby because I don’t like the style of the language, personally, but I can respect someone who would pick it for their app. To me, these two languages represent the future of web development: one where PHP is being left behind in favor of effective and enjoyable languages that can appeal to hardcore computer science folks. I will only use PHP if there is an existing code base, and I write my new applications using Pylons and Pyramid.

My opinion of PHP, after having used it for several years, is that it’s a language for mediocre programming. The PHP language team has made too many wrong turns — adding goto after five major versions without it is one — and at this point I think the momentum has swung away from it.

Ubuntu Linux is my preferred operating system.

Political

In addition to Computer Science, I majored in Political Science at Cal and stay up with current political affairs, particularly Middle Eastern affairs. In 2008 I traveled across the country to canvas and phone bank for Barack Obama. Not necessarily because he fully represents my stand on the issues, but because I feel that it’s a civic responsibility to be involved with politics at some level. I sometimes surprise people with my political positions, which are all over the spectrum. (I may just be contrarian.)

Talk to me offline if you’re interested in my political opinions.

Moral

I neither eat meat nor consume any animal-derived products — eggs, milk, wool, leather, etc. I do this because I love animals and I try as much as I can to avoid being the cause of another sentient being’s death.

Yes I don’t kill insects.

Yes I feed my dog meat-based food.

No I don’t think plants are sentient.

No I don’t think your joke is funny. (Oh you love animals too? But only the delicious ones, right?)