john@alldunne:~$

// Go & Flutter Developer · Wakefield, UK

John Dunne

Twenty years of shipping software. Today that means Go on the server and Flutter on the phone.

Get in touch See projects

01 About

I'm a software developer with over 20 years of experience bootstrapping, building and delivering projects that companies have been glad to put their name to. That includes 11 years with Go, 8 with Flutter and Dart, and 6 with PHP before that.

On the server I like Go: a single static binary, the standard library wherever it will do, gRPC where it earns its keep, and boring, observable deployments.

On the client I like Flutter: one codebase that ships to iOS and Android with native feel, offline-first data, and attention to the small details that make an app pleasant to live with. I ship my own products as well as working for others, which keeps me honest about what matters.

02 Skills

Expert
  • Go
  • Flutter
  • Dart
Excellent
  • Java
  • Node.js
  • PHP
Backend
  • gRPC
  • Secure RESTful APIs
  • MySQL / NoSQL
  • Firebase
  • LAMP
Mobile
  • Riverpod
  • Hive
  • Golden tests
  • SSL pinning & obfuscation
  • App Store & Play launches
Infrastructure
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Docker
  • NGINX / Apache
  • Observability

03 Experience

  1. Founding Flutter Mobile Developer @ Earnly

    May 2026 — present · Manchester
    • Hardened the mobile client against reverse-engineering and runtime attacks by enforcing code obfuscation, SSL pinning, and root/jailbreak detection.
    • Established a 90%+ test coverage standard for the core application logic, directly contributing to a 99.9% crash-free production rate during the initial launch.
    • Flutter
    • Dart

  2. Flutter Mobile Developer @ Hedgehog Lab

    Feb 2026 — May 2026 · Newcastle
    • Engineered the greenfield development and deployment of a cross-platform mobile application, managing the complete product lifecycle from initial proof-of-concept to a successful app store launch.
    • Collaborated with cross-functional stakeholders to translate complex business requirements into clear technical specifications, ensuring delivery aligned with client expectations.
    • Flutter
    • Dart
    • REST

  3. Founding Flutter Mobile Developer @ Earnly

    Oct 2025 — Feb 2026 · Manchester
    • Operated as the sole Flutter subject-matter expert, architecting a robust greenfield codebase and independently driving the design patterns, state management and testing frameworks from conception to production.
    • Delivered a responsive multi-platform Flutter application, using golden test harnesses to guarantee pixel-perfect UI fidelity and secure RESTful endpoint connectivity.
    • Flutter
    • Dart
    • REST

  4. Flutter Mobile & Go Backend Developer @ Sole trader

    Mar 2025 — Oct 2025 · Wakefield
    • Refactored the Go gRPC backend to implement comprehensive observability and metric logging pipelines, drastically improving system reliability and proactive security monitoring.
    • Overhauled the Flutter codebase for compatibility with modern Flutter standards and strict security protocols, significantly improving app stability.
    • Go
    • gRPC
    • Flutter

  5. Flutter Mobile Developer @ Hedgehog Lab

    Dec 2024 — Mar 2025 · Newcastle
    • Spearheaded the refactoring and feature enhancement of core Flutter mobile applications, optimising rendering performance and establishing scalable design patterns to reduce technical debt.
    • Accelerated the delivery of business-critical features across multiple Flutter applications, improving UI/UX responsiveness and ensuring seamless integration with backend REST APIs.
    • Flutter
    • Dart
    • REST

  6. Flutter Mobile & Go Backend Developer @ Sole trader

    Oct 2021 — Dec 2024 · Wakefield
    • Architected and launched StarBright Charts, a cross-platform Flutter mobile application built on clean architecture principles with Riverpod state management.
    • Built the StarBright ecosystem end to end: a scalable Go gRPC backend integrated with the Flutter client.
    • Developed a production-grade Flutter application backed by Go microservices, with Riverpod for predictable state control, Hive for offline data caching, and gRPC for low-latency network communication.
    • Go
    • gRPC
    • Flutter
    • Riverpod
    • Hive

  7. Staff Software Engineer @ SonicWall

    Sept 2009 — Oct 2021 · Wakefield
    • Lead developer on mission-critical projects to rewrite backend services in Go and Node.js during SonicWall's migration to AWS and Azure instances of its core firewall products.
    • Led a project that cut over 25% off AWS and Azure infrastructure costs by migrating a core analytics product from Java to Go and gRPC.
    • Designed and developed a mission-critical CLI tool in Go for managing SonicWall's AWS and Azure deployed firewall products.
    • Lead developer on analytics and reporting software for global telemetry reported by appliances: a Node.js backend and React/Bootstrap frontend, including advanced MySQL optimisation.
    • Go
    • gRPC
    • Node.js
    • Java
    • AWS
    • Azure
    • MySQL
    • React

  8. Senior Software Developer @ DBAM Systems

    Aug 2004 — Sept 2009 · Wakefield
    • First employee at the startup and responsible for some of DBAM's core successes; the company was acquired by SonicWall in September 2009.
    • Architected the solution for managing a distributed cluster of bandwidth management appliances, in PHP and Java, which became DBAM's leading revenue source.
    • Lead Java developer of DBAM's core bandwidth management appliance products.
    • Established DBAM's first formal QA department to give customers robust and reliable software releases.
    • Java
    • PHP
    • MySQL

04 Education

05 Selected work

Apps I design, build and run myself. More detail →

StarBright

Live

Reward charts the whole family can share.

A digital reward chart that helps parents motivate children with stars, goals and rewards.

iOS · Android · 2024

  • Flutter
  • Dart
  • Riverpod
  • Hive
  • Go
  • gRPC

Da Dice

Coming soon

Your dice, your way.

A dice roller for tabletop and board games with fully custom dice sets.

iOS · Android · 2026

  • Flutter
  • Dart

06 Contact

Open to Go backend and Flutter work, contract or permanent. The quickest way to reach me is john@alldunne.org.