Where code matters
I’m Jarle, founder of The Last Viking and a freelance C++ developer for hire. I have held many fancy job titles, like Senior Software Architect and Principle Software Developer - but when I look in the mirror I see only a very passionate and curious software developer.
More about my personal qualifications at cpp-freelancer.com.
I am one of those guys who got a home computer back in the 1980s and got hooked. The moment I lay my hands on my first computer, I knew that this was the passion of my life. I learned the C programming language and wrote my own multi-user BBS under an early version of QNX, running on 8086 and 80186 PC's (ancient things built to run MS-DOS for a single user at most). The same year I was hired as a PC technician by a large university hospital in Norway. I spent the days making computer cables, servicing terminals and printers and a few PCs and Macs, and the nights hacking together software in C. A year later I started to work full time as a software developer. Since then, I’ve worked at both small startups and large enterprises. Being mindful about my love of programming, I have turned down roles focused on management. I don’t mind earning less. It's more important for me to do what I love.
Today I work for my own company in the EU, offering freelance services and developing useful software.
Do you need a hand with your project? Hire me.
Latest blog posts
- Monthly update, August 2025
Coding on several of my open source projects. - Logging in C++: Lessons from Three Decades, from the Console to the Cloud
Best practices, performance pitfalls, structured vs. unstructured logs, and logging in containers and the cloud - with real-world examples using logfault. - Monthly update, July 2025
Code and devops month - Things I made for myself or just for fun
For people like me, programming is pure passion. Here are a few of the things I made just because I wanted to. - Added C++20 Coroutine Support to RESTinCurl
Lightweight C++ wrapper over libcurl now plays nicely with C++20 coroutines
Software Products
- NextApp — A cross-platform personal organizer and GTD powerhouse. Join the beta to help shape v1.
Open source projects (selected)
- yahat-cpp — Minimal HTTP server for embedded REST APIs and metrics endpoints (OpenMetrics-friendly).
- restc-cpp — A pragmatic C++ REST client that makes JSON APIs straightforward.
- RESTinCurl — A minimal libcurl-based HTTP client wrapper.
- logfault — Header-only logging for modern C++ on all major platforms.
- shinysocks — A small, fast SOCKS proxy (single binary, simple config).
...and many more →
Blog & insights
Monthly updates, deep dives in modern C++, distributed systems, and tooling → Blog