Year 1 Software Engineering Student · Cambodia

Ka Vatana

Building real software while learning how to build better software.

I'm learning full-stack development, AI-assisted workflows, and product thinking by building practical web projects — starting with BayonHub, a Khmer-first marketplace experiment for Cambodia.

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Open to internships, collaborations, and learning opportunities
Now

What I'm working on

Cleaning up my GitHub and portfolioMaking my public presence honest, organized, and professional.
Learning full-stack fundamentalsVue, Nuxt, TypeScript, NestJS, PostgreSQL — building while studying.
Building BayonHub carefullyTreating it as a real product experiment — architecture first, polish later.
Learning AI-assisted developmentUsing Claude and other tools thoughtfully, verifying everything I generate.
Learning inside Angkor ByteUnderstanding how engineering teams think about products and international work.
Active Learning Project2024Solo builder & learner

BayonHub

Khmer-first classifieds marketplace experiment for Cambodia

This is a solo learning project built to practice full-stack architecture, product flow design, and Cambodia-first product thinking. It is not a funded startup or launched business.

The problem I explored

Cambodia has no widely trusted, Khmer-friendly digital classifieds platform. I wanted to explore what one might look like.

What I built

  • A buyer-to-seller listing flow with search and categories.
  • Basic account management and seller profile concept.
  • A simple trust indicator experiment (phone verification idea).
  • A tiered listing model as a monetization concept to explore.

Stack

Nuxt 3TypeScriptNestJSPostgreSQLRedisTailwind CSSDockerCloudflareVercel
Repository is private while I complete a security and code quality cleanup.
Full case study →
Listing detail page

What I learned

  • How to structure a Nuxt + NestJS full-stack project from scratch.
  • Database schema design for a marketplace (users, listings, categories).
  • How to think about trust in two-sided marketplace products.
  • Why phased, connected flows matter more than isolated flashy features.
  • How Docker and Vercel work together for deployment.
  • How much harder building a real product is than following a tutorial.
Learning log

What I'm learning

I'm a Year 1 student. This is an honest list of what I'm actively studying and building across.

Frontend Development

  • Vue 3 & Nuxt 4
  • TypeScript basics
  • Responsive CSS & design systems
  • Component thinking & reusability

Backend & APIs

  • Node.js & NestJS (learning)
  • PostgreSQL & Redis (learning)
  • REST API design patterns
  • Docker & basic deployment

AI-Assisted Development

  • Using Claude & ChatGPT in workflows
  • Writing better prompts
  • Reviewing and verifying AI output
  • When not to trust AI suggestions

Product Thinking

  • Identifying real user problems
  • MVP scoping
  • User flow design
  • Cambodia-first product context

Engineering Discipline

  • GitHub hygiene & clean commits
  • Security awareness basics
  • Documentation habits
  • Reading and understanding other people's code

What I'm building toward

The portfolio starts with BayonHub. This is where it goes next.

Marketing Websites
Full-Stack Web Apps
Admin Dashboards
SaaS MVPs
AI Chatbot Products
AI Agent Tools

Want to collaborate, learn together, or just say hello?

Get in touch →