Hi, I’m Alex.
I’m a software developer at the Wellcome Trust and an open-source Python developer. At Wellcome, I’m helping build a new platform for searching and storing our digital collections. It’s taking Wellcome’s assets – books, archives, images, and more – and presenting them through consistent, well-designed APIs.
I contribute to open source Python in my free time, including the Hypothesis testing library and the hyper-h2 HTTP/2 stack. I’m one of the organisers for the PyCon UK conference, and I’ve given a number of talks about Python (among other topics).
The site focuses on programming, with the occasional venture into accessibility, maths, bits of travel advice and Victorian engineering. It’s as a way to sharpen my skills in writing, and improve my ability to explain my ideas. If that sounds interesting, I have an infrequently updated blog.
I hope you enjoy the site.
Recent posts
- 15 MarA day out to the Forth Bridge
Photographs from a trip to North Queensferry to see the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, and an unexpected light tower. - 3 MarAtomic, cross-filesystem moves in Python
Explaining some code for moving files around in a way that’s atomic and works across filesystem boundaries. - 9 FebWorking with really large objects in S3
Code for processing large objects in S3 without downloading the whole thing first, using file-like objects in Python.
Contact
You can email me at alex@alexwlchan.net, or I’m @alexwlchan on Twitter.
For anything related to Wellcome, email a.chan@wellcome.ac.uk.