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Service-Message Viewer

Oct 2020 – Mar 2021 (~6 months) · Solo Frontend Developer

  • React
  • Socket.IO
  • SCSS Modules

Sole frontend developer on a four-person team that, over roughly six months, rewrote a legacy Java + jQuery monolith’s frontend as a greenfield React application. The product was a real-time service-message viewer for the financial sector: server-pushed events streamed in and were rendered as a live, filterable data table. I shipped a working MVP.

Engagement shape

  • Domain: financial sector — a real-time viewer for server-pushed service messages.
  • Type of work: a greenfield React frontend replacing the UI layer of a legacy Java + jQuery monolith. The backend stayed Java; the frontend was the migration target.
  • Migration approach: full replacement — the React frontend was built from scratch and switched on as the new UI when ready, rather than a strangler / side-by-side cutover.
  • Team: four people total, with me as the single frontend developer owning the rewrite.
  • Outcome: a working MVP shipped.

My role

Sole frontend developer. The title was “Frontend Developer,” but in practice I had end-to-end ownership of the rewrite: module structure, component design, real-time message handling, and the frontend-stack choices within it.

Tech stack

  • Frontend: React, Socket.IO (for real-time push of incoming service messages), and SCSS modules.
  • Legacy stack being replaced: a Java + jQuery monolith.

Selected work

  • Real-time service-message data table — the core surface. Incoming messages stream in over Socket.IO and render as a live, sortable data table with columns for message type, status, and the other primary fields. Filters and search on top of the table narrow the stream by type, status, or free text.
  • Greenfield React rewrite of the legacy UI layer. Module structure, component design, real-time message handling, and frontend-stack choices were all mine end-to-end.
  • Full-replacement cutover. The new React frontend shipped as a switched-on replacement for the legacy UI.

Why this is a strong early-career entry

Rewriting a jQuery + Java monolith’s frontend in React requires understanding both paradigms and shipping without breaking the user-facing product — solo, with no senior frontend developer on the project to defer to. Owning a legacy-to-React rewrite in the financial sector roughly 1.5–2 years into a career is a real trajectory signal.