David Cole

David Cole is a highly experienced programmer with over twelve years of industry expertise, including sixteen years at IBM. Since 2020, David has been a valued member of the Softoup instructor team, where he shares his deep technical knowledge and passion for teaching.

David is now self-employed, focusing on Android app development and working with a wide range of programming languages including Java, JavaScript, and Python. He is committed to helping the next generation of developers build the skills they need to succeed in today’s tech landscape.

His programming journey began with a project that managed stock movement in a warehouse, built for a CP M computer. The entire program and operating system operated within a modest sixty four kilobytes of memory — a testament to how much technology has evolved since then.

David has worked across a broad range of sectors including utilities, retail, insurance, and automotive manufacturing. His clients and employers have included Northumbrian Water, Arcadia, Royal Sun Alliance, Nissan, and Jaguar Land Rover. He also spent three years teaching computing and software development at Sunderland University.

While the tools and challenges of programming have evolved dramatically, David believes the joy of solving problems with code remains the same. When he is not coding or teaching on Softoup, he enjoys exploring the countryside of the UK and Europe on his motorbike.