Keystrokes
sq
Recognise « sq »
Match shortcut · replace token
√
Square root
The cursor lands inside the radicand, ready for the value.
A person and their dog look across a distant cosmic horizon.
Building ambitious products
Engineering beyond limits.
I’m Youssef, a software engineer building resilient web and mobile products that expand what people can do.
Flagship case study · 01
RemoteOtter
A production platform helping software engineers discover remote job opportunities.
Built in collaboration with Abdelrahman Hany Metawei and Julien Barbier.
The product brought job discovery, filtering, personalised alerts, saved opportunities and subscriptions into one production system.
From architecture and ingestion pipelines to search, subscriptions and Linux infrastructure.
1M+
impressions
in month one
40K+
clicks
in month one
200+
daily users
in month one
Next.jsTypeScriptPostgreSQLPrismaNextAuthPythonLinux
Sources
Job boards + ATS
Ingest
Python pipelines
Normalise
Shared data model
Deduplicate
Canonical records
Index
PostgreSQL search
Deliver
Search + alerts
What I owned
One coherent product system, not a collection of features.
Product architecture
Architected and deployed the application with Next.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Prisma and NextAuth.
Data model & search
Designed the schema and PostgreSQL indexes for jobs, companies, users, saved jobs, applications and subscriptions.
Ingestion systems
Built Python pipelines and scheduled cron jobs to aggregate, normalise, deduplicate and refresh listings.
Production operations
Implemented authentication, caching, payments, personalised alerts and monitoring, then managed deployment on Linux.
Flagship case study · 02
MathVellum
A structured mathematics editor built to make complex mathematical writing fast, accessible and independent.
MathVellum was originally designed to help people with motor disabilities, who cannot rely on pen and paper, write mathematics independently.
View on Google Play Flutter · Dart · LaTeX
Live shortcut expansion
Type the intent. Get the real structure.
KeystrokesShortcut parserEditable output
Keystrokes
fr
Recognise « fr »
Match shortcut · replace token
□
Fraction
A numerator and denominator are created as one navigable expression.
These are not visual substitutions. MathVellum inserts structured, keyboard-navigable expressions the moment the shortcut is completed.
Engineering the editor
Mathematics behaves like a structure, not a string.
Every fraction, root and exponent has shape. The editor had to understand those relationships while keeping navigation, selection and rendering immediate.
Expression engine
A structured-expression model, interactive renderer, nested cursor and selection system, and layout engine.
Keyboard-first editing
A custom mathematical keyboard and configurable parser for fast, reusable shortcuts.
Export pipeline
Accurate LaTeX conversion and vector PDF generation for high-quality mathematical notes.
Independent by design
Offline persistence, auto-save and privacy-first local processing with no connection required.
Adaptable interface
Custom shortcuts and multilingual support for different writing and learning workflows.
The product in use
A closer look at the editor.
01 · Nested editing
02 · Vector PDF export
03 · Default shortcuts
Selected work · 03
Other systems in orbit
Focused applications where interface decisions, reliable data and applied AI work together.
01 · Supporting system
MemFlip
An AI-assisted study workspace for drafting editable flashcard decks, organising a searchable library and tracking recall across every completed revision.
- Editable AI drafts with duplicate-aware extension
- Manual creation and full deck management
- Search, sorting and bulk library actions
- Weighted recall scores and interactive revision trends
Next.js/TypeScript/Groq/Clerk/Firestore/
02 · Supporting system
Sadim AI
A responsive AI chat application with streamed responses and persistent conversations.
- Streamed model responses
- Persistent conversations and generated titles
- Sanitised Markdown and syntax-highlighted code
- Authentication and cloud persistence
Next.js/TypeScript/Firebase/NextAuth/Groq API/
Other high-value projects
CodeLog
A journaling platform for software engineers to record daily progress, maintain coding streaks and engage with the community through posts, comments and likes.
Built in collaboration with Mohamed Lamine Boukhalfa, Khadija Ghadi and Harriet M Mugendi.
ReactFlaskMongoDBRedisJWTNginx
Solana Copy-Trading Bot
A Solana copy-trading bot that monitored selected wallets in real time, reconstructed swaps across Pump.fun, Raydium, Meteora and Jupiter, and combined low-latency transaction delivery with automated exits. After several iterations, it became profitable and served as our production-grade introduction to Rust and Solana.
Built in collaboration with Abdelrahman Hany Metawei and Julien Barbier.
RustTokioSolana SDKYellowstone gRPCRaydiumMeteoraJupiterSWQoS
Hayat
A blood-donation platform connecting donors with transfusion centres, making it easier to discover nearby centres and view their blood inventory needs.
Built in collaboration with Blain Muema and Kenansa Meseret Nigusie.
FlaskMySQLSQLAlchemyJavaScriptNginxHAProxy
Simple Shell
A Unix command interpreter built from scratch with process execution, PATH resolution, environment-variable handling and careful memory management.
CGCCUnixValgrind
Technical Skills
Tools matter most when connected to outcomes.
I work across product, interface, data and infrastructure, taking ideas from early architecture decisions through production.
Product engineering
Turning product decisions into reliable systems, from architecture and data modelling to search, payments and production operations.
- Architecture
- Authentication
- Payments
- Search
- Notifications
- Deployment
Frontend & mobile
Crafting polished web and mobile interfaces with clarity, character and visual precision.
- React
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
- Flutter
- Dart
Backend & data
Designing data models, ingestion pipelines and services that stay dependable as products and datasets grow.
- PostgreSQL
- Prisma
- Python
- Node.js
- Express
- Firestore
- Redis
- MongoDB
- MySQL
- Flask
- Django
Infrastructure & AI
Operating deployed services and integrating models where they create a clear product advantage.
- Linux
- systemd
- cron
- Docker
- GitHub Actions
- DigitalOcean
- AWS
- Vercel
- Caddy
- Nginx
- HAProxy
- Groq
- OpenAI
- Cohere
- Pinecone
Education
The fundamentals and the habit of learning by building.
June 2024 · 12 months
ALX Software Engineering
Completed a 12-month programme spanning C and Unix programming, full-stack development, databases, algorithms, Linux and DevOps. Its peer-learning and project-based approach strengthened my habit of learning by building while developing autonomy and a strong teamwork mindset.
C & Unix programmingPython & JavaScriptHTML & CSSData structures & algorithmsSQL & data modellingREST APIs & backend servicesLinux, networking & DevOps
145.52%
final performance score
Recognised as an ALX Community Champion for advancing disability inclusion in technology.
June 2022
Baccalauréat
Sciences Mathématiques
After I successfully completed high school, Hespress, a Moroccan national digital news outlet, chose to publish an article about my journey.
Read the Hespress articleMission & working method
Different interface. Same ambition.
I live with cerebral palsy and work primarily from a tablet. Through Termux and SSH, I connect to an Ubuntu environment and build with Vim and tmux. I also use Codex or Claude Code from the command line to work more efficiently.
That workflow has sharpened my adaptability and my attention to efficient interfaces. My experience has also strengthened my interest in accessibility and independence, not as an abstract feature, but as part of how useful technology should work.
My long-term mission is to build technology that gives people, especially people with disabilities, greater independence, opportunity and freedom.
Tablet
Primary interface
Termux
Local terminal
SSH
Secure connection
Ubuntu
Development environment
Vim + tmux
Focused workspace
Production
Deployed systems
What guides my work
01
Adaptability
Find the workable interface, then keep moving.
02
Clarity
Reduce friction until the important work is visible.
03
Independence
Build systems that give people meaningful control.
A small asteroid carrying a seated fox and a rose drifts gently through a field of stars.
Open channel
The next meaningful product is still ahead.
I am open to software engineering opportunities, ambitious product work and collaborations that create meaningful impact.
youssef.charif.h@gmail.com