Adrian Callaghan

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT ADRIAN CALLAGHAN

Software Engineer & Database Specialist | 30+ Years Development | 20+ Years LAMP | AI IntegrationI\'ve been building software for a long time - long enough to have made most mistakes at least once, and to have strong opinions about MySQL query optimization and Linux that nobody asked for.Most of my career has been in the LAMP stack. I write a lot of PHP and JavaScript, spend probably too much time optimizing database queries, and work on backend systems that need to be reliable but aren\'t very exciting to talk about at parties. APIs, ORMs, database architecture, legacy code refactoring - that\'s where I spend most of my time.I\'m good at the unglamorous stuff: figuring out why a query suddenly takes 30 seconds, refactoring old codebases without breaking them, reverse engineering systems that have no documentation, and making architectural decisions that won\'t cause problems three years later. I\'ve solved problems that teams had been stuck on for years, usually by understanding how all the pieces fit together.I\'ve built ORMs from scratch, migrated live systems with zero downtime, and written queries that probably shouldn\'t work but do. I know my way around the full stack - from database internals to web server configuration to frontend behaviour.Recently I\'ve focused on practical AI integration in development workflows. I\'ve implemented AI-assisted tooling into CI/CD pipelines: automated code analysis, context-aware documentation generation, and intelligent code review assistance. I work primarily with Claude (Anthropic\'s Opus and Sonnet models) and understand model selection, token optimization, and prompt engineering for technical tasks.The challenge with AI isn\'t the technology - it\'s identifying where it adds value versus where it\'s expensive noise. I\'ve built systems that analyze codebases and generate contextual prompts for developers, reducing onboarding time and improving comprehension. The business case is clear when you focus on augmenting productivity rather than replacing judgment.Technical background: Linux, MySQL/PostgreSQL, PHP (Zend certified), JavaScript (React, Angular, Vue), nginx/Apache, Docker, CI/CD automation. Strongest on backend and database work. Current AI focus: LLM integration, prompt engineering, automated documentation.Particularly interested in database expertise, system architecture, AI integration in development workflows, and complex legacy systems rather than chasing the latest JavaScript framework.Dunstable, UK | adriancallaghan.co.uk