Profile

Twenty years of PHP, almost all of them with TYPO3.

I am Alexander Schnitzler, software architect and backend engineer from Wuppertal, Germany. Since 2014 I have been freelancing under the name Schnitzler Softwarelösungen for agencies and software vendors in the German-speaking market.

In short

I started with PHP at school and with TYPO3 in 2007. I did my vocational training from 2007 to 2010 at BOROS.INTERAKTIV, a digital agency in Wuppertal, and stayed on there as a programmer. From 2011 to 2013 I was a senior developer at typovision in Munich and, during that time, a member of the Extbase team that evolved the MVC framework for TYPO3 extensions.

I have been self-employed since March 2014. From 2019 to 2022 I was the component merger responsible for Extbase in the TYPO3 core team; in 2020 I additionally spent a year part-time as senior developer at TYPO3 GmbH. When I became a father I handed the merger role back. I still contribute to the core and to extensions.

Today my focus is on software architecture with Domain-Driven Design, on TYPO3 upgrades spanning several versions, and on integrations with third-party systems. I work exclusively on the backend, remotely, on Linux and with PhpStorm.

How I work in teams

As a freelancer I am involved both in advising and in actively building sustainable solutions. In teams I take a leading role and make decisions that balance sustainability and pragmatism. I actively share knowledge and help the people on the team grow.

Career

• since 2014Freelancer, Schnitzler Softwarelösungen, Wuppertal. Software architecture, backend development and TYPO3 upgrades for agencies and software vendors, among them many ways out, Wilder Jäger, PHORAX, Constructiva Solutions, Marketing Factory Digital, pixolith and Easyfairs. Details on the references page.
• 2019–2022Component merger for Extbase, TYPO3 core team.
• 2020Senior developer (part-time), TYPO3 GmbH.
• 2011–2013Senior developer, typovision GmbH, Munich. Member of the Extbase team 2012–2013.
• 2008–2012Schnitzler Softwarelösungen as a side business: web projects for private clients, together with a network of designers and developers.
• 2007–2011Trainee and programmer, BOROS.INTERAKTIV GmbH, Wuppertal. Vocational training 2007 to 2010, then taken on as a programmer.
• 2006–2009Managing partner, Substil GbR. On the side, founder of a fashion label and an event series.

Tools

• PHP 8
• TYPO3 4.2 to 14.3
• Extbase
• Fluid
• Symfony
• Doctrine DBAL and ORM
• Domain-Driven Design
• PHPUnit
• Codeception
• PHPStan
• Rector
• Composer
• REST
• MariaDB and MySQL
• Docker
• DDEV
• GitLab CI
• Linux
• PhpStorm
• AI coding agents

Languages

German

native

English

fluent, business level

French

good working knowledge