Josh Salway

Josh Salway

Freelance Software Engineer · Gold Coast, Australia

Building and shipping full-stack web applications as an independent developer. Strong background in PHP, Laravel, React, and TypeScript. Active open source contributor.

joshsalway.com | GitHub | LinkedIn

Skills

Languages
PHP TypeScript JavaScript HTML CSS SQL
Frameworks
Laravel React React Native Expo Next.js Vue.js Astro Tailwind CSS Livewire Inertia.js
Databases
PostgreSQL MySQL SQLite MongoDB Prisma
Infrastructure
Cloudflare Workers Coolify Hetzner Laravel Cloud Laravel Forge Vercel Netlify AWS Docker CI/CD
Tools
Git Claude Code Pest Playwright Jira Wireshark
AI
Claude AI / Anthropic SDK OpenAI AI-assisted development

Experience

Freelance Software Engineer

Self-employed

May 2023 - Present
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia (Remote)
  • Building and shipping consumer web and mobile products as an independent developer, from product discovery and UX through engineering, launch, and ongoing operation.

Contract Work

Shipped Products & Projects

Open Source

  • 43+ pull requests merged across the Laravel ecosystem, including framework core, serializable-closure, cloud-cli, and vapor-core.
  • Published technical research on Laravel queue safety (23 findings verified against v13.4.0) and OOM retry behavior.
Laravel 12 React Inertia.js TypeScript Tailwind CSS PostgreSQL Filament Livewire Statamic Pest WorkOS Stripe/Cashier AWS Laravel Cloud Laravel Forge Cloudflare Workers Netlify Claude AI / Anthropic SDK

Laravel App Developer

Pivotal Agency

Oct 2022 - Apr 2023
Helensvale, QLD
  • Built a national car marketplace (Cars4us.com.au) with buy, sell, and finance workflows using Laravel, Livewire, Alpine.js, and Statamic CMS.
  • Developed backend functionality, database queries, and optimised website performance.
  • Implemented a vehicle filtering page with compare, favourites, and weekly finance calculators, plus a suggestion algorithm for recommending vehicles to users.
  • Integrated third-party APIs, built PDF generation features, wrote tests, and managed Laravel Vapor serverless infrastructure on AWS.
Laravel Livewire Alpine.js Statamic CMS AWS Vapor PDF Generation

Laravel + Vue Developer

Digistorm

Jan 2021 - Aug 2022
Miami, QLD
  • Built and maintained features across the Digistorm Funnel platform, a school enrolment and admissions product used by schools across Australia.
  • Developed frontend components in Vue 2+ and backend logic in Laravel 7+, working across the full stack.
  • Worked with PostgreSQL, Tailwind CSS, and SCSS in a team-based Agile environment.
Laravel Vue.js Tailwind CSS SCSS PostgreSQL

Laravel + React Developer

@realty

Jun 2020 - Jan 2021
Surfers Paradise, QLD
  • Full-stack development on a real estate platform using Laravel 6+ and React.
  • Built and maintained features for property listings, agent dashboards, and search functionality.
Laravel React Bootstrap

PHP Laravel Developer

Budget Pet Products

Sep 2019 - Jun 2020
Molendinar, QLD
  • Built REST APIs to integrate the eCommerce storefront with third-party fulfilment and inventory services.
  • Managed server infrastructure and set up CI/CD pipelines for automated deployments.
Laravel REST APIs CI/CD

Laravel Web Developer (Internship)

CodingLabs.io

Jul 2019 - Sep 2019
Molendinar, QLD
  • 12-week intensive program covering Git, Tailwind, Laravel, databases, testing, and MVC architecture.
  • Contributed to the open-source Convict Records project.
Laravel Tailwind CSS Git

Education

Certificate IV in Cybersecurity

TAFE Queensland

Jul 2023 - Nov 2024
Coomera, Gold Coast
  • Threat detection, incident response, and vulnerability management.
  • Hands-on with Wireshark, Nessus, and Splunk.
  • Penetration testing, ethical hacking, and cloud security.

Advanced Diploma of Music

Victoria University

2015
Melbourne

Diploma of Multimedia

Gold Coast TAFE

2008 - 2009
Ashmore, Gold Coast

Recent Writing

ToneDeck: Training the One Skill Most Mandarin Apps Skip

I built a Mandarin app built around the four tones. Minimal-pair tone drills, pronunciation scoring, 5,500+ HSK words and a guided beginner course. Free to start, on iPhone.
ChalkBee: Printable Worksheets With Maths Answers That Are Never Wrong

I built a site that generates printable primary-school worksheets across maths, reading, science and more, organised by topic and grade. The maths answer keys are computed, not written by an AI, so they are never wrong. Generous freemium, with premium options for teachers.
Why I Moved Everything from Laravel to Next.js

I built my whole portfolio on Laravel for years. Then I moved every project to Next.js: Better Auth, Prisma, Stripe, Cloudflare. Here are the technical reasons, the honest personal one, and what I'd tell a developer weighing the same migration.
Rebuilding FragHub in Next.js: What React Server Components Actually Buy You

I rebuilt fraghub.gg, a data-heavy PUBG stats site, from Laravel to Next.js with React Server Components. Here is what actually changed: content rendered on the server, less JavaScript, simpler data fetching, and the parts that tripped me up.
Sound It First - A Phonics Game for Young Kids

A sound-first reading game for young kids, built with my friend Gaz. A letter appears, a picture of something that starts with its sound grows in, and the earlier you call the sound the more you score. It already covers letters, blending, sight words, numbers and more. Free, no sign-up, works offline. Early release.