Hi, I’m Kevin Yank.
I love to make pixels change colour with code. And I love the web, which freely empowers individuals to share their ideas and to create beautiful experiences for each other. I also have a passion for and deep experience in clear technical communication.
For more than 25 years, I’ve built amazing experiences for the web, taught others to do the same, and led teams and practices to do it at scale.
For more than a decade now I have led the front end engineering strategy and practice at Culture Amp in various roles, from Lead Engineer to Director of Engineering, and now Principal Architect.
When I’m not coding or managing coders, I perform theatrical improvisation with Impro Melbourne, where I’ve appeared in shows like Theatresports™, Jane Austen Improvised and Smells Like a Song since 2005. I also lead the team of volunteers behind the annual Melbourne Pen & Stationery Show (and make their website).
I’m best known for my work at SitePoint, where I worked for over a decade (2001–2011). Besides writing a ton of code for the business, I wrote five editions of the book PHP & MySQL: Novice to Ninja (previously titled Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL), which together sold well over 25,000 copies. I co-wrote Simply JavaScript (2007) with Cameron Adams, and contributed to Everything You Know About CSS Is Wrong! (2008) with Rachel Andrew. I also wrote the weekly SitePoint Tech Times email newsletter from 2002-2010, which went out to some 250,000 subscribers, and co-hosted the weekly SitePoint Podcast (2008-2010).
I have created a number of video courses, including Up and Running with Sublime Text 2 (2013), Build Your First Website Using HTML & CSS, PHP Live (2010), JavaScript Live (2010) and The CSS Crash Course (2007).
I have also spoken at a number of industry events and conferences over the years, including Web Directions (2006, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2025), Compose Melbourne (2018), RailsConf (2017), Edge of the Web (2009), and Fundamentos Web (2006).
I live in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia).