Hello! My name is Christopher Abey

Software engineer and tinkerer, proud father, and a pain-in-the-arse husband.

Christopher Abey
Christopher Abey with his wife
Christopher Abey with his daughter
Christopher Abey

About Me

You talkin' to me?

So, who are you?

I'm Chris — a full stack software engineer who mass-produces bugs for a living and mass-fixes them like nothing happened. It's honest work.

Yeah...and?

I'm 41 years old — which is apparently 23 in developer years past my prime — happily married and a proud father. Yes, someone willingly chose this.

Come on! You can do better than that!

I've been a certified tech lover since before it was cool. Computers, gadgets, gizmos — you name it, I wanted it. Not the cheapest of hobbies, but I blame my parents entirely. They would constantly break the family computer, which meant that someone had to fix it. I was basically unpaid IT support from the age of 10, and honestly, not much has changed.

I graduated from University with a BSc/Hons in Computing Science and started my career in IT support — which, it turns out, was just the family computer problem at scale but with more passive-aggressive emails. I soon decided I wasn't being challenged enough, so I made the jump into Web Development where I could break things professionally.

Having been coding for about 17 years, my preferred stack is Tailwind, Alpine, Laravel & Livewire (the TALL stack), though I do enjoy using VueJS too. All of it self-taught, which is a polite way of saying I mass-googled my way to competence and now mass-ask AI. Sometimes it's best to just roll up your sleeves and figure it out yourself.

That's good but how do you pay the bills?

Believe it or not, people actually pay me to write code. I currently work at Sign In App as a Senior Full Stack Software Engineer. Sign In App is a visitor management and workplace platform used by businesses worldwide — from visitor sign-in flows and time & attendance tracking to space booking and evacuation management. Basically, if you've signed into a building and it didn't crash, you're welcome.

Do you have a life outside of code?

Allegedly, yes. Outside of work I love spending time with my family. My wife and I love our walks; our daughter, on the other hand, is a bit lazy — but we're working on it. Slowly. Very slowly.

When I'm not on family duty, I like to play the occasional computer game and build Lego. I'm a HUGE Lego fan — my wife calls it a problem, I call it a carefully curated collection. My office is rapidly running out of display space, which I maintain is a sign of success, not a cry for help.

I also still love to tinker with code in my free time. If I have an itch to scratch or I want to challenge myself, you'll find me tapping away at the keyboard. Yes, I unwind from coding by doing more coding. I'm aware of the irony.

Tech Stack

With over 17 years experience building web applications, here are the tools doing most of the heavy lifting

PHP

Yes, I voluntarily write PHP. No, it's not 2005 anymore. Modern PHP is fast, clean, and constantly improving. I always strive to use the latest version available, because living on the edge keeps things interesting.

Laravel Framework

The framework that does all the boring stuff so I can focus on the fun stuff — and by fun stuff, I mean writing bugs in business logic instead of infrastructure. Laravel's ecosystem and community are genuinely second to none.

Tailwind CSS

After years of wrestling with CSS frameworks, I found Tailwind and never looked back. Sure, my HTML looks like someone smashed a keyboard, but it works, it's fast, and I haven't rage-quit a stylesheet in years.

Laravel Livewire

All the reactivity of a single-page app without any of the JavaScript existential crisis. Livewire lets me build dynamic interfaces while staying in PHP, which is exactly where I belong.

VueJS

For when I do venture into JavaScript territory — willingly, even. Vue is the well-behaved one of the JS framework bunch; it does what you ask without requiring a 12-step configuration ritual.

AlpineJS

When you need a bit of interactivity but installing a full JS framework for a dropdown feels like hiring a demolition crew to hang a picture frame. Alpine is lightweight, practical, and does exactly what it says on the tin.

Contact Me

Say hello. Or don't. But you've scrolled this far.