An airhacks.fm conversation with Francesco Nigro (@forked_franz) about:

starting with a used Commodore 64 without display,

breakdancing as a hobby and its influence on his learning approach,

studying computer science at university with a focus on AI and compilers,

pursuing a PhD in reinforcement learning,

transitioning to IoT and embedded system work,

discovering high-performance computing and concurrency patterns like the Disruptor,

contributing to open-source projects,

persistence in joining Red Hat despite initial rejection,

rewriting ActiveMQ Artemis journal,

considering Hazelcast before ultimately choosing Red Hat,

working on messaging and performance optimization at Red Hat,

becoming the performance expert for quarkus,

journey from assembly and C programming to Java performance optimization,

the importance of understanding low-level details in high-level languages,

the impact of container resources on Java JVM performance,

the value of deep technical knowledge in the age of AI and LLMs,

Francesco's current role at Red Hat focusing on Quarkus performance and scalability issues