A freelance project where I owned the full stack. Next.js on the frontend, a Go backend for the API and database operations, PostgreSQL underneath, Clerk for auth, and Uploadthing handling product image uploads. Beyond just building it I handled domain management, security updates, and ongoing comms with the client directly. This project ended up being as much about communication and expectation-setting as it was about code.
The thing I'd do differently is the backend. At the time I went with a setup that made sense given the timeline, but looking back I over-complicated a few things I could have kept simple. It was also my first real experience managing a client relationship, which had its own learning curve separate from the technical side entirely. The site loads 40% faster than what they had before and has been pulling consistent traffic since launch, so the outcome was good.