airhacks.fm podcast with adam bien Natural Born Breaker
Jan 26, 2025
Francesco Nigro, a performance expert at Red Hat, shares his unique journey from a used Commodore 64 to mastering Quarkus. He discusses the impact of breakdancing on his learning and the role of persistence in landing a position at Red Hat. The conversation dives into high-performance computing, revealing insights on the Disruptor concurrency framework and the evolution from assembly programming to Java optimization. Francesco emphasizes the significance of in-depth technical understanding in today’s AI-driven landscape, highlighting his dedication to open-source contributions.
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Nickname Origin
- Francesco Nigro got his nickname "Franz" while breakdancing as a teenager.
- He preferred this nickname over his given name, Francesco.
First Computer
- As a child, Francesco received a used Commodore 64 from his dad, sparking his interest in computers.
- Inspired by movies like "War Games," he began programming to understand how computers create virtual worlds.
Empirical Approach
- Francesco Nigro's empirical programming approach involves dissecting code to understand its mechanics.
- This stems from his childhood curiosity, even breaking hardware to learn its inner workings.