About Luis Sousa, Freelance Full-Stack Developer
Twenty years of shipping software, most of it for businesses who needed it working rather than fashionable.
I am Luis, the developer behind Sharkter Ltd. I have spent more than two decades building and repairing web and business systems - long enough to have written code in stacks that no longer exist, and long enough to be sceptical of anything sold as a silver bullet.
I work as a one-person consultancy. When you hire Sharkter, I am who does the work.
What I am good at
My core strength is object-oriented design and code optimisation - writing systems that stay understandable as they grow, and making slow ones fast. Most of my work is web-oriented, covering the full stack from database schema through to the interface the end user actually touches.
I care about user experience, but from an engineering angle: applying sound UI/UX fundamentals so that software is obvious to use, rather than commissioning a redesign every two years. A large proportion of usability problems are structural, and they are cheaper to fix in the architecture than in the CSS.
I have significant experience with high-transaction websites and with AWS. Systems under real load behave differently to systems in a demo, and knowing where the pressure points are - database contention, cache invalidation, queue backpressure, deployment windows - is most of what separates a system that scales from one that falls over on its busiest day.
I work mainly in Agile environments and have a consistent track record of shortening project duration, reducing cost and raising throughput. Usually that comes not from working faster but from cutting the work that was never going to matter.
Areas I cover
Across the full stack, front to back and infrastructure underneath.
- AI integration
- Software architecture
- Hands-on development
- Data migration and ETL
- Legacy code and refactoring
- API development
- Microservices
- Web development
- Server administration
- System and code upgrades
- Cloud set up
- Database architecture
How I like to work with clients
Short feedback loops and plain language. I will tell you when something is a bad idea, and I will tell you when a cheaper option would do the job. Neither of those costs me anything and both save you money.
I take on a small number of engagements at a time so that the client I am working for gets actual attention. That limits how much I can take on, but it is the reason projects finish.
Sharkter Ltd is registered in England and Wales and I work with clients across the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. I speak English and Portuguese.
Frequently asked questions
How many years of experience do you have?
Over 20 years of professional full-stack development, covering web applications, business systems, APIs, data work and infrastructure.
Are you a company or a sole freelancer?
Sharkter Ltd is a limited company registered in England and Wales, and I am the person who does the work. For larger pieces I can bring in trusted collaborators, and I will always tell you in advance if that is the plan.
What technologies do you work with?
Primarily the web stack - PHP, JavaScript, SQL and the surrounding ecosystem - along with AWS and Linux server administration. I am comfortable picking up an unfamiliar stack when a project calls for it; after 20 years, the concepts transfer.
Want to talk it through?
The first conversation costs nothing and usually clarifies more than a written brief does.
Tell me about your project