Hao Liu
Software Engineer | Full-Stack Developer
San Francisco, CA
Hi, my name is Hao Liu. I used to build skyscrapers, and now I build feature rich, dynamic web applications. You can read more about me, or checkout my recent projects to see what I've been working on!
Back-End Skills:
Front-End Skills:
Recent Projects
The idea for PreLinked was born during one of my job application periods. I love LinkedIn and I use it to reach out to people to learn about the positions I apply to and to get advice on my applicaitons. I also love using Indeed.com because it's like Google for job listings. I wanted to combine these two amazing services, so as you search through Indeed's job listing, you'll see whom in your extended network you could reach out to help you increase your chance of getting hired. To help me realize this product, I lead 3 fellow engineering students and created PreLinked in 2 weeks
Search Result Page - Job Results are ranked based on how "connected" you are to that job. Click on the connections icon for each job to see connections relevant to the job listing.
Connection profile modal show how you are connected to that person
Mobile - Search Filter
Mobile - Job Results
Mobile - Connection Results
Contract work for 
(App releasing soon, stealth testing)
I was hired by Foundersuite to build the entire front-end of their new web application in Backbone. My proposed mockup for the summary view was accepted and implemented. I also set up custom routes and wrote helper methods in the Rails server. The app is releasing soon. I'm not allowed to share live demos or feature descriptions during stealth development, therefore comparison to their released app and blurred screenshots are included.
Exisiting app for comparison. Similar style and funcitonality. Accessible through free trial
Tech Stack
- Backbone.js
- jQuery
- JavaScript
- CoffeeScript
- Bootstrap
- Underscore.js
Exisiting app for comparison. Similar style and funcitonality. Accessible through free trial
Contract work: Summary view based on my proposed mockup.
Contract work: multiple backbone view types for multiple models
Contract work: multiple backbone view types for multiple models
Contract work: modal view for editing list of models. Rails rendered form. Autocomplete with API search results as user types.
Contract work: modal view aggregating all backbone views of one model.
About Me
From Software to Architecture, then back...
I fell in love with programming in high school when I wrote a command line space invader game in C++. It seemed magical that I could make computers interact with people with lines of code. I started studying computer science at UC Berkeley, but the program could not satisfy my desire to build products that shaped people's everyday lives. So I pursued architecture and became a licensed architect. I enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing people using what I built everyday.
Even as an architect, I found myself enjoying tinkering with software tools. I wrote simple AutoCAD scripts to automate tasks. I spent ridiculous amount of time making multi tab Excel workbooks to calculate building programs and planning criteria. I couldn’t ignore my passion for tech and, while working full-time, bootstrapped a startup with friends creating a CRM platform for attorneys. I started with mockups in HTML and CSS, but I really wanted to delve into the front-end and back-end architecture of web applications. So I started learning coding on my own, and it reminded me why I wanted to be a programmer in the first place many years ago.
I eventually said goodbye to my career in architecture, and decided to become a full-time software engineer to continue building products that benefit people’s everyday lives.