Zachary Sherman
About Zachary Sherman
Zachary Sherman is an Infrastructure Engineer at ngrok, where he has developed various packaging solutions and improved testing efficiency. With a background in community organizing and diverse roles in software development, he has a strong focus on building relationships and enhancing developer experience.
Work at ngrok
Zachary Sherman has served as an Infrastructure Engineer at ngrok since 2020. His responsibilities include developing and maintaining various packaging solutions for the ngrok agent, such as Docker, Snap, Homebrew, and Chocolatey. He has also implemented a migration to Buildkite, utilizing an EC2 group of agents running on NixOS, which enhanced system stability. Additionally, he has integrated observability tools like Vector, Veneur, Datadog, and Honeycomb to improve logging, metrics, and tracing. His contributions have led to significant reductions in testing times, with end-to-end test times decreasing by 62.5% and unit test times by 66.7% through node-local caching and a parallel task runner.
Education and Expertise
Zachary Sherman earned a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Latin American Studies and a Minor in Media Arts + Design from the University of Chicago, completing his studies from 2015 to 2019. His academic background provides a foundation for his analytical skills and understanding of complex systems. This educational experience, combined with his practical work in software development, has equipped him with the expertise necessary to excel in his role as an Infrastructure Engineer.
Background
Prior to his current role at ngrok, Zachary Sherman held various positions that contributed to his professional development. He worked as a Researcher and Artist at the Smart Museum of Art from 2018 to 2019 and as a Researcher at the University of Chicago for three months in 2018. He also served as a Frontend Engineer at Repl.it for one month in 2020. His early career included roles as a Research Intern at Cumberland River Compact and as a Barista at the University of Chicago, where he worked for two years.
Achievements
Zachary Sherman's work at ngrok has led to notable achievements, including the reduction of testing times through innovative solutions. He successfully reduced end-to-end test times by 62.5% and unit test times by 66.7%. He also led the design and maintenance of a custom TypeScript program that improved the developer experience by eliminating the need for YAML or Terraform. His project, e-worm.club, reflects his interest in the intersection of people and software, further showcasing his commitment to enhancing user experiences.