Archaeological excavation scene: workers in high-vis and hard hats on a flat planum
Marshall Laszlo Toth - Software Engineer with blue hair, building systems that survive reality

Hello, my name is
Marshall Laszlo Toth!

I design systems that don't snap when reality pushes back.

Let's connect

Who am I?

I'm Marshall Laszlo Toth; a software engineer who lives at the bend where clean code collides with messy reality. For over a decade I have designed and stabilized systems that don't snap when reality pushes back: from Laravel platforms and distributed integrations to on-site archaeological digs and early hardware experiments.

I'm drawn to the exact places most systems try to hide: where data stops flowing cleanly, where manual work quietly appears, and where abstractions meet the physical world. That friction is not a bug. It's the signal I follow.

Everything on this site (the patterns I master, the work I've done, the perspective I've written) is an exploration of that single idea.

Spoken Languages

Szia! đź‘‹

Native 🔥

I can swear in it for 10 minutes straight without repeating a phrase when the build fails at 3 AM.

Hello! đź‘‹

Fluent 🌍

The language I use to explain why my ESP32 is on fire (again).

Hallo! đź‘‹

Beginner 🍺

Enough to order beer and understand why bureaucracy is the ultimate legacy system.

Skills Where I've Spent the Most Cycles

Core Backend & Domain Logic

PHP

Where messy business logic meets long-lived systems.

Laravel

A structured layer over chaotic domains.

Symfony

Structured foundations in complex environments.

Custom Framework

Understanding systems without the safety net.

API Design

Where systems agree to understand each other.

Data & Integration

MySQL

Where truth is stored, approximated, and occasionally negotiated.

GraphQL

Querying systems that don't naturally align.

Frontend & Navigation

React

Interfaces for navigating complex systems.

Vue.js

Pragmatic interfaces for fast-moving systems.

TypeScript

Making implicit assumptions visible.

JavaScript

The glue between intention and interaction.

HTML / CSS

The structural layer everything else depends on.

Infrastructure & Reality Layer

AWS / Azure

Infrastructure that scales—until reality interferes.

System Administration

Keeping the lights on when the abstractions break.

IoT / Embedded

Bridging code and physical processes.

Patterns I Master

These are the six recurring patterns I have repeatedly designed, stabilized, and refined while building systems that don't snap when reality pushes back. Each one appears across multiple chapters of my work (see Proof in Work) and continues to shape how I approach every new problem.

I treat them not as abstract concepts but as battle-tested tools forged at the exact point where intention meets friction. You'll find them referenced throughout the jobs below, the perspective writing, and the tags that connect everything.

Proof in Work

Every role below is a chapter in the same story: how I designed systems that don't snap when reality pushes back. I've listed them chronologically so you can watch the patterns evolve in real time. Each job explicitly names the dominant patterns it strengthened (linked to the Patterns section above) and ends with a short “Reality check” that ties it back to the thesis.

June 2025 - March 2026 @ Archbau GmbH Field Assistant (Archäology - Side Project)

Physical-to-Digital Feedback LoopsData Transformation PipelinesTime-sensitive Synchronization

Archaeological excavation is a high-stakes, irreversible data transformation system where once a layer of soil is removed, context is lost forever. While supporting on-site preparation and documentation at Archbau, I observed how heavily the process still depends on manual methods and explored ways to close the physical-to-digital feedback loop with modern tooling.

Reality check: Systems don't snap when reality pushes back only if the feedback mechanisms are immediate, observable, and respectful of institutional constraints.

Read More...

September 2024 - March 2025 @ NextTuesday GmbH Senior PHP Engineer

Legacy ModernizationExternal Dependency Orchestration

PHPCustom FrameworkLaravelMySQLReactNeos CMSJavaScriptTypeScriptHTMLCSSAPI Design

At NextTuesday I kept client systems alive across Laravel, React, and a legacy custom framework while the entire department was being restructured and gradually phased out.

Reality check: Legacy systems don't snap when reality pushes back if you modernize incrementally while preserving continuity and auditability under shifting organizational pressure.

Read More...

Ordio GmbH
February 2024 - June 2024 @ Ordio GmbH Senior Full-stack Developer

Data Transformation PipelinesExternal Dependency OrchestrationConstraint-aware Navigation

API DesignPHPMySQLSymfonyTypeScriptReact

At Ordio I worked on a workforce management platform for deskless industries, focusing on integrations with external HR systems like Workday and designing guided interfaces for non-technical users in highly variable operational environments.

Reality check: Systems don't snap when reality pushes back when transformation layers can reconcile inconsistent data while keeping workflows intuitive for humans under real operational pressure.

Read More...

Diligent Corp.
June 2022 - April 2023 @ Diligent Corp. Senior Backend Developer

Legacy ModernizationExternal Dependency OrchestrationData Transformation Pipelines

PHPLaravelMySQLTypeScriptReactAWS

At Diligent I maintained and extended a critical legacy PHP system inside a large governance, risk, and compliance platform while the broader architecture transitioned toward AWS and TypeScript services.

Reality check: Large-scale systems don't snap when reality pushes back if you can modernize incrementally without ever breaking audit trails, security, or compliance requirements.

Read More...

May 2021 - May 2022 @ Future Property Trade Kft Senior Full-stack Lead Developer (Freelance)

Physical-to-Digital Feedback LoopsExternal Dependency OrchestrationTime-sensitive Synchronization

PHPLaravelMySQLJavaScriptVue.jsAWS

I led development of a social commerce platform that turned influencer reach into end-to-end merchandise production and global fulfillment, aligning audience demand, manufacturing constraints, and logistics into one fast-moving system.

Reality check: Digital intent doesn't reliably become physical outcomes unless the system can translate loosely defined ideas into repeatable flows while respecting real-world manufacturing and logistics limits.

Read More...

Risskov Autoferien AG
January 2020 - April 2021 @ Risskov Autoferien AG Senior Full-stack Developer

Physical-to-Digital Feedback LoopsExternal Dependency OrchestrationTime-sensitive Synchronization

API DesignPHPLaravelJavaScriptVue.jsGraphQLAzureMySQL

At Risskov I helped build and maintain a multi-country last-minute hotel booking platform where availability, pricing, and packages had to stay synchronized across hundreds of partners and country-specific sites in near real time.

Reality check: Time-sensitive marketplaces don't snap when reality pushes back if synchronization layers can gracefully handle incomplete information, asynchronous updates, and continuous partner variability.

Read More...

between 2018 and 2019 @ TechTeamer Kft & MikroCredit Zrt Backend Developer

Data Transformation PipelinesExternal Dependency OrchestrationLegacy Modernization

API DesignPHPLaravelJavaScriptReactMySQL

I helped build the microservice backend for an early fully digital lending platform in Hungary, where identity verification, risk scoring, and loan disbursement had to align in near real time under strict regulatory constraints.

Reality check: High-stakes financial pipelines don't snap when reality pushes back when loosely coupled services can still reach consistent, auditable decisions despite partial and externally validated information.

Read More...

WebShippy Kft
in 2018 @ WebShippy Kft Full-stack Developer (Freelance)

Physical-to-Digital Feedback LoopsExternal Dependency OrchestrationTime-sensitive Synchronization

PHPCustom FrameworkAPI DesignJavaScript

At WebShippy I built the integration and warehouse tooling layer that turned digital orders from external webshops into physical fulfillment, creating bidirectional APIs and early picker/packer systems inside the warehouse.

Reality check: Scaling e-commerce doesn't happen by handling more requests; it happens when digital intent is reliably aligned with physical movement, where every inefficiency becomes immediately visible and costly.

Read More...

Manna KreatĂ­v Zrt.
in 2017 @ Manna KreatĂ­v Zrt. Junior Full-stack Developer, Service Desk

Physical-to-Digital Feedback LoopsData Transformation PipelinesExternal Dependency Orchestration

API DesignPHPMySQLLaravelJavaScript

At Manna Soap I evolved a large monolithic system that tightly integrated webshop, CRM, production, and customer communication for a natural cosmetics brand rooted in handcrafted manufacturing.

Reality check: Systems don't snap when reality pushes back when they can reflect the variability and constraints of semi-manual physical production while still delivering consistent customer experience.

Read More...

between 2014 and 2016 @ Érték-Rendszerház Kft & Wore Hungary Kft Junior Full-stack Developer, System Admin

Physical-to-Digital Feedback LoopsData Transformation PipelinesExternal Dependency OrchestrationConstraint-aware Navigation

API DesignPHPCustom FrameworkMySQLJavaScript

My early career unfolded inside a loosely connected network of furniture manufacturing, retail, and hospitality companies. I built internal tools and webshops that tried to replace spreadsheets and manual coordination across disconnected units.

Reality check: Disconnected business units only function as a larger system when data, materials, and decisions can move across boundaries without constant manual intervention and lost information.

Read More...

Education & Path

Self-Directed Learner since 2000

I began with an IT-focused high school and advanced certification, then studied electrical engineering at BME while contributing to Studio Schönherz and the electronics workshop. Over time the path bent toward software — because building and iterating in production felt more honest than theory.

The real education, however, happened in the systems I've described above. Every job, every side quest, and every perspective post has been an extension of that same question: how do we design systems that don't snap when reality pushes back?

What's Next: Open Experiments

The same mindset that drives the paid work also fuels my personal projects. These are the places where I test new patterns in the open, before reality has a chance to push back at scale.

Coming soon
WIP Draft
6-Channel Temp Sensor (the failed one) An attempt to build a multi-sensor temperature monitoring system on ESP32 that ultimately taught me more about power budgeting, sensor noise, and graceful degradation than success ever could. When scaling physical sensors, reality pushes back through power, noise, and thermal constraints; the real win was learning where to stop pushing and start designing for observability instead.
Read More
WIP
Failed Successfully: ESP32-CAM Live Streaming An experiment pushing an ESP32-CAM to stream live video to YouTube/Twitch and other platforms: achieving a rock-solid 7 fps before hardware limits declared victory. Sometimes the system doesn't snap, it gracefully reveals its true constraints. Sharing the "successful failure" openly turned a hardware limitation into usable community knowledge.
Coming soon
WIP Draft
ESP32 I2C LCD Example A minimal, well-documented example using ESP-IDF 5.4+ new I2C driver to drive an HD44780 LCD via PCF8574 I/O expander. When abstractions break at the hardware level, you need systems that remain understandable and reliable even with tight timing and limited resources.
Read More
WIP
Retrospective: Laravel Cron Bundle A 2017 open-source package that replaced Laravel's static scheduler with a database-driven, auditable cron manager + Supervisor support. Even infrastructure code must survive dynamic production reality without relying on fragile server crontabs.
Coming soon
WIP Draft
Model Railway Experiments A collection of experiments including a simulation framework, NMRA DCC protocol port to ESP32, and control logic for model railways - turning a miniature physical world into a real-time, synchronized digital system. Model railways are a perfect microcosm of larger systems: timing is everything, physical movement can't be buffered easily, and reality (track conditions, mechanical delays, signal interference) pushes back constantly. These experiments sharpened my intuition for irreversible, real-time flows.
Coming soon
WIP Draft
Static Portfolio Engine A fully static, open-source portfolio system built with Astro, Tailwind v4, Content Collections and an LLM-first architecture. Turning my own messy thinking into a maintainable digital artifact that doesn't snap under future changes.
Read More
WIP
Case Study: 🌿 WildNode A pocket-sized, solar-powered ESP32 device that captures cinematic telemetry from the physical world. Closing the loop where reality itself (light, movement, environment) becomes structured digital data in harsh, off-grid conditions.

Perspective: Deeper Reflections

If you want to understand how I actually think, start here. These essays are not add-ons; they are the philosophical core that ties every pattern, every job, and every experiment together. Each one explicitly references the systems I've built and the moments when reality pushed back hardest.

Post Scriptum

If you've read this far, thank you. Truly.

Everything on this site (from the hero line to the last perspective fragment) is an attempt to turn messy reality into something a little more understandable. I still prefer fixing real friction over polishing surfaces, so if any pattern, any job, or any idea here resonates, I'd be genuinely happy to continue the conversation.

I design systems that don't snap when reality pushes back. Let's build, fix, or explore something together.

Tax-registered in Germany and Hungary for cross-border work.

Get in Touch

Let's build something, fix something, or explore something

Whether you have an idea, a problem to solve, or just want to connect - feel free to reach out. I'm always open to meaningful conversations and interesting challenges.

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