Full-stack developer, mostly front-end
Gust van der Sanden
I design and build web applications, from the architecture down to the last component. I'm also my team's Scrum Master, and at home I run my own Linux servers.
What I do
Front-end architecture
Before I write much code, I work out how an application fits together: which components exist, where state lives, how data comes in and where the types are defined. Mistakes in those choices start to hurt about a year later, so I'd rather spend the time up front.
Full-stack product work
The interface is my strongest side, but I don't stop at the API. If a problem turns out to be in a Node service, an MSSQL query or a GitHub Actions pipeline, I follow it there.
Infrastructure and self-hosting
At home I run two Linux servers with Docker, Coolify and Traefik. It's a hobby, but it means deploys, DNS and reverse proxies aren't a black box to me.
Process and people
Next to development I'm my team's Scrum Master, with a PSM I certificate. Because I write code every sprint myself, I know what a meeting costs a developer, and I keep them short. I also like talking to customers. Working out what someone actually needs is often the most important part of a feature.
Work
Strobbo
Senior Software Developer & Scrum Master
2021 – present
Strobbo makes software for staff scheduling, payroll and employee management, and it's the market leader in Belgium. There are about twenty developers, split across a few Scrum teams.
I joined in 2021 as a junior developer, straight after my bachelor's degree. I became a medior developer in 2024 and moved into a more architectural role after that. Since 2026 I've also been my team's Scrum Master.
The mobile app
UI and architecture of the React Native app.
I designed both the interface and the architecture of our mobile app: how screens are put together, how state flows and how the app talks to the platform. People open it to check when they're working next, often on a Sunday evening, and the answer needs to be right there.
A new application on TanStack Start
UI and architecture of a new React application.
On a new stack, a lot of decisions haven't been made yet: routing, how data gets loaded, what runs on the server and what runs in the browser, and which conventions the team follows. I laid that foundation and built on top of it.
Internal tools
Small tools in Next.js and TanStack Start for colleagues.
I built several internal tools, each one aimed at a specific problem my colleagues kept running into. They were quick to set up, and most of them are still in use.
Type safety
TypeScript carried through the whole codebase.
TypeScript is the default in every project we have. I've put a lot of time into types that actually say something: no any slipping across a boundary unnoticed, no data whose shape you have to guess. That way mistakes show up at compile time and not in a customer's schedule.
The planning views
Large refactors of the core of the product.
Everything in the product comes together in the planning views, which makes them the hardest part to change. Before I changed anything I had to learn them properly, including all the edge cases and assumptions that had crept in over the years. After that it was small steps, so no customer lost a schedule along the way.
A developer who is also Scrum Master
My main job is development. Next to that, I've been my team's Scrum Master since 2026, and I've held my PSM I since 2023. I run the ceremonies, but most of the work is in small things. A refinement that keeps ending without a decision, or a board that says something different from what the team is actually doing. I change it, then watch what happens.
I enjoy the customer side of the job. People don't always describe a problem clearly, and then my job is to find out what they really need. Sometimes it's something they hadn't thought of yet.
Projects
Things I build outside of work. They all run on my own servers.
Homelab
Two Linux servers in my house, running everything I'd otherwise rent from someone else.
A backup you've never restored is a hypothesis.Read more
An AI agent that can't break my servers
How I let an AI coding agent manage my infrastructure without giving it the means to wreck it.
Read moreFrom a sentence to a printed part
A pipeline that turns “I need a tray 3 by 2, two units tall” into a real object.
Read moreAbout
I live in Limburg, Belgium, and I've worked at Strobbo since 2021, straight after my bachelor's in Applied Computer Science at Thomas More in Geel. I'm now a senior developer there, I've worked on the architecture of most of what we've built in the last few years, and I'm also my team's Scrum Master.
What I like about Strobbo is that the product looks simpler than it is. At first sight it's a calendar, but behind it are pay rules, contracts and exceptions. My job is to keep all of that away from someone who just wants to know who's working on Saturday.
I mostly work on the front end, with Vue 2 and 3, React, React Native and as much TypeScript as I can fit in. When a problem goes further, into the API, the database or the pipeline, I go with it. That's also why I run two Linux servers at home. If something breaks there at eleven at night, nobody else is going to fix it.
Another part of my work is about people. Running ceremonies, looking at how a sprint really goes, and talking to customers. I like that last part best.
Outside work it's mostly servers, a 3D printer and a house from 1935 that always needs something.
Stack
- Daily
- TypeScript, React, Vue 2 and 3, React Native, HTML/CSS
- Frameworks
- TanStack Start, Next.js
- Backend
- Node.js, MSSQL, Postgres (self-hosted)
- Infra and tooling
- Docker, Linux (Debian), Coolify, Traefik, GitHub Actions, Git
- Practice
- Scrum (PSM I), architecture and design, code review, large refactors
- Tinkering
- OpenSCAD, OctoPrint, WireGuard, AI agents
I don't rate myself out of five. Ask me about any of these and I'll tell you honestly how well I know it.
Contact
Email is the quickest way to reach me. About a job, a problem you're stuck on, or a reverse proxy that isn't doing what you expect.
gustvdsanden@gmail.com