From the database to the screen
Java, Hibernate and PostgreSQL on the server, Next.js, React and TypeScript on the interface. I take a feature from the data model all the way to the last screen.
Ilyas Zahaf Kradra
Full stack developer in Lyon, France. I evolve business-critical applications, from the database to the interface. And on the side, I build my own tools.
What I do
Applications that never stop
I work on critical tools that people use every day. I know how to modernize an application while it keeps running, and how to keep technical debt under control. For the frontend migration, I compared technologies and analyzed the risks before the team chose Next.js.
Interfaces designed for the people who use them
I mock up in Figma before I code. I redesigned the interfaces of internal tools to make them simpler to use every day.
AI, with method
Claude Code is part of my everyday toolkit. I use it as support, not as a pilot: it helps me cover my code with tests, review it and refactor it, so the work I ship is more solid. It also lets me take on technologies I haven't mastered yet: xm4-control is written in C#, outside my usual stack.
Journey
Pick a period to see the details.
Since Sep 2025
Full stack developer
PWA Assurance, Lyon, permanent position
- Hired when I finished my master's, on the same applications.
- I keep the existing AngularJS app evolving while the modernization moves forward, with no service interruption.
- I rely on AI for testing, code review and refactoring, as a complement to my own work.
- I catch issues early and pay down technical debt to keep the applications fast.
- Hired when I finished my master's, on the same applications.
- I keep the existing AngularJS app evolving while the modernization moves forward, with no service interruption.
- I rely on AI for testing, code review and refactoring, as a complement to my own work.
- I catch issues early and pay down technical debt to keep the applications fast.
- Five-year degree.
- Two years as an apprentice at PWA Assurance, until I was hired full-time.
- Three years splitting my time between school and production.
- Gradual modernization of the business applications' backend, from Java 8 to Java 21.
- In 2024, the frontend migration started over from scratch. I led part of the study, comparing technologies and analyzing risks, before the whole development team chose Next.js.
- I then helped the other developers get up to speed on Next.js by sharing the resources I had used to learn it.
- Features delivered end to end (Java, Hibernate, REST APIs, Next.js), in an Agile team and with tests.
- Redesign of the internal tools' interfaces, from Figma mockups to code.
- Three-year degree.
- The whole year as an apprentice at PWA Assurance.
- A three-month internship that led to an apprenticeship at the same company.
- A proof of concept for migrating the frontend from AngularJS to Vue.js, which received a favorable review.
- Two-year university degree in computer science.
- The second year ends with an internship at PWA Assurance, where everything that follows began.
Projects
All my GitHubxm4-control
A Windows 11 app to control Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones without going through Sony's mobile app. Noise canceling, equalizer, battery, and sound that stays in stereo during Teams or Discord calls.
I don't write C# day to day: this is the project where I stepped outside my stack, with Claude Code to help me learn the Windows ecosystem.
C#, .NET 10, WinUI 3, Bluetooth, open source under the MIT license
xm4 ncxm4 eq BassBoostxm4 mic offFire safety
An app for managing fire safety interventions, with electronic signatures and PDF report generation.
Next.js, TypeScript, 2025
B2B SaaS platform
A service management platform where generative AI automates recurring tasks and helps write service descriptions.
Next.js, TypeScript, Prisma, 2025
Skills
Backend
Java, Hibernate, REST APIs, PostgreSQL
Frontend
Next.js, React, Vue.js, Angular, TypeScript, Tailwind
Methods and tools
Git, CI/CD, Docker, Agile/Scrum, unit testing, Figma, Claude Code
Languages
French (native), English B2 (TOEIC 810)
Contact
ilyas.zahafkradra.pro@gmail.com
Based in Lyon, open to opportunities in France and abroad.