Franco Ponticelli

I'm old, very old, but only on the outside. Long time computer geek, developer by trade and passionate about so many things that it is way too easy to lose count.

What hardware do you use?

Mac Book Pro.

What software do you use?

Chrome and Sublime Text is all I need lately.

Where do you get your inspiration?

In general from the developers community. I love when new exciting projects see the light and I can be there to witness the event.

Which creatives/developers/artists do you admire most?

I don't look at anyone in special but I really admire people that can go pass beyond just the inspiration and get the s#!t done.

What contributions are you proud of?

I am certainly proud of writing the first Haxe book (Professional Haxe and Neko). It was an extreme effort for me but I really think it was a very high-quality product.

Did your contributions bring you work opportunities?

Yes. I got a pretty long and enjoyable contract with an awesome italian company, Visup. I am pretty sure that the book was a big factor in their decision to hire me.

Do you use them in your projects?

I contribute to several Haxe libraries and the two that I constantly use in all of them: utest and thx.core. They are my staples for Haxe development. They are simple and not fancy but they are easy to use. They certainly could get more love.

How did you get started with Haxe?

At the time I was using MTASC to build what I believe it was the first online implementation of the game Sudoku (that game is still available online). Nicholas announced Haxe and I was extremely fascinated for the possibilities it was going to open. Nicholas totally delivered on those promise and I continued to follow the project with more and more interest.

What problem does Haxe solve for you?

Portability. Also the powerful typing system helps a lot in delivering self-documenting code. I don't enjoy documenting my code but I find that Haxe code in general is extremely easy to understand.

What tips or resources would you recommend to a new Haxe user?

Don't stick to what you know and embrace what Haxe has to offer. Haxe is mature in many senses and it contains the results of many smart decisions.

What Haxe libraries are you impressed by?

I love everything that is visual (who doesn't?) so I will pick haxeui. It is really impressive to see how the project evolved essentially in the hands of just one developer. Another library that always amazes me because of the amount of features and quality you can find in it is Prime. Impressive.

What problem would you like to see solved by a new or existing Haxe library?

A really consistent cross-platform, as-close-to-native-as-possible UI library. UI libraries are probably close to the most difficult piece of software to build and it would be very nice to have some shared effort dedicated to that.

What is the best use of Haxe you've come across?

I've seen plenty but I think the best is still to come.

What do you see for the future for Haxe/OpenFL?

I am not in the game business but I am in the UI/UX one. So I am not sure it will happen but I would love to see OpenFL excelling outside the game-making world.

Regarding more strictly the language I believe that it needs some make-up. I know that Nicholas strongly believe that syntax sugar is not important and I also recognize that his resilience has been favorable to get where the language is at the moment.

On the other hand software development is not, or should not, be considered a static thing and adding some "color" can make big differences. Adding syntax-sugar can encourage people to embrace some best practices.

Sell your wwx2014 session!

I don't have too. Haxers and Makers ... it is sold already!

What is the best part of wwx for you?

Meeting Haxers. The Haxe community is really amazing and I am really proud to say that I have several good friends in there.