Arthur Harding

TIDAS (2019 – 2022)

VB.NET, WinForms, MySQL, automation and imaging hardware

TIDAS was one of the company’s best-selling products, used by major paint companies to test new formulations. The application had an established codebase that had evolved over more than a decade. Written in Visual Basic, the application contained numerous customer-specific features and edge cases, making maintenance and development challenging.

I became the go-to developer for maintaining and extending the software, regularly investigating bugs and implementing new functionality. This required understanding a large, complex codebase, identifying the effects of changes across different customer configurations, and thoroughly testing modifications to avoid introducing regressions.

My work focused on keeping the application reliable while gradually improving maintainability and reducing technical debt. One significant improvement I made was to the system for managing customer-specific features, making it easier to introduce new functionality for individual customers without complicating the wider codebase. This made future development work much more efficient.

Vial Transfer System (2019)

WPF, MySQL, C#

This was an automation system worth several hundred thousand pounds, built to transfer several hundred thousand vials from one rack format to another. As lead software developer, I was responsible for the application’s development from initial requirements through to installation and delivery. This involved everything from gathering requirements from the customer, to designing the process code and the UI, to building the full app and database, to testing the app on the system and delivering it to the customer’s site.

We used several advanced laboratory and automation devices which I integrated into the application; for example, a robot arm with custom tooling which required its own interface. I also had to develop a robust system of input and output files in order to track the position and identity of the vials. All vial data was stored in an SQL database on the system PC, and the location was updated once the robot had moved the vial. Once delivered and installed, the system saved the client thousands of man-hours and tens of thousands of pounds.

Sporting Group Pricing API (2022)

REST Web APIs, C#, F#, Git, CI/CD

This was a live API which was crucial to the functioning of the entire business, written in both C# and F#. Working with an established codebase written in both C# and F# required me to quickly become familiar with unfamiliar technologies and understand the complex business logic behind the software.

My work included building out the service for a new sport, making sure it had all the functionality it needed and that it was robust in the face of everything that live use would throw at it - for example, the service needed to use complex mathematical equations for calculating probabilities, which I integrated. In every piece of work I did, I had to make sure that it was thoroughly tested and wasn’t going to cause problems when it went to production. This service allowed the business to offer more services to its customers.

Reality Solutions — Accounting software development (2026)

C#, WPF

Worked on an established commercial application, developing new functionality and maintaining existing code. Gained further experience with complex SQL operations and improving database performance.

Cooperation Hull — Website development (2024–present)

HTML, CSS, JavaScript

https://cooperationhull.co.uk/

Designed and developed the organisation’s website using ASP.NET, C# and Bootstrap. Worked with other members of the organisation to establish requirements and continue to maintain and improve the website.