Marco Arena

Public activities

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Marco Arena

A professional list of my notable activities.

Quick links:

Get in touch: marco [at] italiancpp [dot] org

TL;DR – in a nutshell

I am a 13+ years experienced Computer Engineer from Rome, specialized in C++ software development.

Since the end of 2019, I have worked at Tetra Pak as one of the technical leaders of the AI Engineering Team, pioneering the development of AI-based applications for packaging lines. Previously, from 2011 to 2019, I served the Ferrari F1 Racing Team (Scuderia Ferrari) as a Performance Software Engineer and C++ Specialist, working on mission-critical telemetry and simulation software, and driving the adoption of modern C++ and latest standards. In 2020, I co-founded the ISO C++ Italian body, propelling the evolution of C++ standards in Italy.

Beyond the code, I’m a 11+ years experienced community manager, organizer, blogger, and speaker: I birthed the Italian C++ Community in 2013, Coding Gym in 2016 (a programming laboratory open to all languages), and ML Modena in 2020 (the leading AI community in Modena). Together, these initiatives have attracted thousands, hosting meetups, coding laboratories, online events, and international conferences.

In particular:

  • in 2013, I founded ++it, the Italian C++ Community, or the C++ landmark in Italy, hosting 200+ users on Discord, 300+ subscribers on a dedicated subreddit, 200+ attendees at on-site events, and sending a monthly newsletter targeting 1500+ people. The community hosts monthly local meetups in Modena (hosting 20-25 people), and also two international conferences every year;

  • in 2016, I created Coding Gym, a programming laboratory format open to any language. Started by me in Modena, I am also leading a group of amazing “trainers” who host the very same format in their cities. Every month, I organize a moderated and inclusive session hosting 25-30 people who work in pair and collaboratively share their solutions and ideas. Besides, I have authored and published more than 120 articles on Coding Gym challenges using different approaches and programming languages;

  • in 2020, I co-founded ML Modena, the first (and unique) community about Artificial Intelligence in the Modena area. Every month we organize a meetup hosting 60-70 people.

Also, I am involved in some other community activities:

  • I have been an editor of isocpp.org since 2014. I help moderate the International C++ online community;

  • since 2016, I have joined the staff of ConoscereLinux, a non-profit organization making divulgation in the Modena area;

  • since 2016, I have joined the staff of Meeting C++, volounteering at the conference every year since then;

  • in 2018, I co-founded Community Crumbs, a non-profit organization patronizing all my community activities. This adventure ended in 2020.

Sometimes, I blog and speak. I have given talks at many popular events such as Microsoft Community Days, Italian Agile Day, Codemotion, QtDay, Future Decoded, NoSlidesConf, Italian Community Managers Summit, local meetups and Italian C++ Community events. Also, I have authored and published more than 120 articles on coding challenges using idiomatic C++ and sometimes other programming languages.

Recognized for my efforts, I’ve received the prestigious Microsoft MVP award eight times since 2016, a testament to my impactful community contributions.

My activites:

Talks & Workshops

Marco is a fantastic speaker. He is passionate. He captures his audience with a balanced mix of technical facts and sense of humour. His examples and stories make concepts clear, and he focuses on explaining the ideas before the details. He has all these features, and he puts them in every single sentence.

Feedback by Andrea Baruzzo at Meetup Pordenone 2015

I love telling stories and interacting with people. My stories are not only about technical things but also about personal development and lessons I have learned.

I have given talks at many popular events such as Microsoft Community Days, Future Decoded, Italian Agile Day, Codemotion, QtDay. I’m also used to speaking at events organized by my own community, the Italian C++ Community.

For some of the talks that are listed in this page I got some feedback (generally from 1 to 5 ). For the others, the event did not have a way to rate talks or the results are not publicly available.

Some events I spoke at provided a joind.in page. You can check out my Joind.in public profile for a quick overview.

Speaking to 150+ people at Codemotion Milan 2015
Speaking about C++ to 150+ people at Codemotion Milan 2015

2024

[Workshop] Coding Gym (120’)
26 attendees.
@DevFest Modena 2024 – October 2024/Modena (Italy)

Alla scoperta di C++23 (90’)
Slides & Snippets (ENG)
60+ attendees.
@Italian C++ Meetup Milan at Microsoft House – May 2024

Community C++, Ferrari e Tetra Pak | Chiacchierata con Marco Arena (150’)
📹 Video (ITA)
500 online attendees.
@Mr. Rip – March 2024

2023

Alla scoperta di C++23 (90’)
Slides & Demo (ENG) - 📹 Video (ITA)
28 in person + 18 online attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – September 2023

C++ Course: Programmare in C++ è facile, se sai come farlo (4 hours)
I proudly developed and recorded the C++ online course of the Enciclopedia Treccani, the most popular encyclopedia in the Italian language. Basically, Edulia Masterclass, the digital training platform of Istituto Treccani selected me as a C++ expert to host the C++ course on the platform. I designed the course from scratch, deciding the slant and contents. The course is organized in 4 modules and it lasts for 4 hours.
Course page (ITA)
Demo used to support the lessons
@Edulia – April 2023

Visita guidata a gRPC in C++ (90’)
Slides & Demo (ENG)
30 attendees.
@XPUG Bologna Monthly – March 2023

2022

A gentle introduction to gRPC in C++ (90’)
Slides & Demo (ENG) - 📹 Video (ITA)
25 attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – June 2022

C++20 per impazienti (90’)
Slides & Snippets (ENG)
40+ attendees.
@Italian C++ Meetup Milan at Microsoft House – May 2022

C++20 for the daily job (90’)
Slides & Snippets (ENG) - 📹 Video (ITA)
26 attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – March 2022

2021

É facile usare i range, se sai come farlo (90’)
Slides (ENG) - 📹 Video (ITA)
31 live attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – June 2021/Online

Corso Base C++ (3x120’)
I have co-chaired a 3-lesson C++ beginner class with Marcello Missiroli (who was the main teacher). The class was hosted online on BigBlueButton by ConoscereLinux and was totally free to attend.
Class Page with slides (ITA)
📹 Lesson 1 (ITA)
📹 Lesson 2 (ITA)
📹 Lesson 3 (ITA)
26 live attendees.
April-May 2021/Online

2020

Interoperable AI: ONNX & ONNXRuntime in C++ (90’)
Slides - 📹 Video (ENG) - 💻 Demo
50 live attendees.
@C++ Day 2020 – November 2020/Online

Talk a sorpresa…Implementiamo “Slowest Key” in next-gen C++ (90’)
📹 Video (ITA) - (snippets in video description)
20 live attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena (this was an improvised “mob programming” session because the scheduled speaker bailed out) – November 2020/Online

Spontaneità: l’ingrediente segreto delle community (20’)
📹 Video (ITA)
32 live attendees.
@Italian Community Manangers Summit – November 2020/Online

Interoperable AI: ONNX & ONNXRuntime in C++ (90’)
Slides - 📹 Video (ITA) - 💻 Demo
30 live attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – October 2020/Online

[Panel] Community Organizers Panel (60’)
I have participated in the CppCon 2020 Community Organizers Panel with other user group leaders to share my experience with community management and events organization. - 📹 Video
@CppCon 2020 – September 2020/Online

2019

[Workshop] Coding Gym: una palestra, ma non solo di programmazione (120’)
10 attendees.
Facilitated with: Alessandro Pezzato and Roberto Peruzzo
@Agile Day 2019 – November 2019/Modena (Italy)

Thinking in patterns - Come allenarsi e diventare cintura nera di STL (120’)
Slides - 📹 Video (ITA)
21 attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – June 2019/Modena (Italy)

Bruce Lee per programmatori C++ (120’)
Slides - 📹 Video (ITA)
22 attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – February 2019/Modena (Italy)

Se Bruce Lee fosse stato un programmatore avrebbe adorato il C++ (120’)
Session on tech.io - 📹 Video (ITA)
20 attendees.
@XPUG Bologna Monthly – January 2019/Bologna (Italy)

2018

[Workshop] Post-Modern C++ Refactoring (120’)
Workshop on tech.io
16 attendees.
@Monthly Italian C++ Meetups Modena – June 2018/Modena (Italy)

Coding Gym: divertirsi e migliorarsi a colpi di algoritmi (40’)
About Coding Gym, by examples. Slides - 📹 Video (ITA)
200 attendees.
@Codemotion Rome 2018 – April 2018/Rome (Italy)

Coding Gym: divertirsi e migliorarsi a colpi di algoritmi (120’)
About Coding Gym, by examples. Challenges - 📹 Video (ITA)
15+ attendees.
@XPUG Bologna Monthly – January 2018/Bologna (Italy)

2017

Competitive Programming for fun and self-improvement (45’)
Contents and examples - 📹 Video (ITA)
60+ attendees.
@NoSlidesConf 2017 – November 2017/Bologna (Italy)

The C++ Triad: Iterators, containers and algorithms (120’)
Contents and examples
15+ attendees.
@Mini-Meetup May / Modena – May 2017/Modena (Italy)

Interactive discussion: C++17 for the daily job (120’)
Contents and examples
20+ attendees
@Mini-Meetup March / Bologna – March 2017/Bologna (Italy)

Interactive discussion: C++17 for the daily job (120’)
Contents and examples
15+ attendees.
@Mini-Meetup February / Modena – February 2017/Modena (Italy)

2016

C++17 for the daily job (60’)
Slides (ENG) - 📹 Video (ITA)
80+ attendees.
@C++ Day 2016 – October 2016/Florence (Italy)

Cambiamo il C++ con Microsoft GSL & Guidelines Checkers (60’)
Full description and demo project in ENG
30+ attendees
@Future Decoded 2016 – October 2016/Milan (Italy)

With great C++ comes great responsibility (60’)
Slides (ENG) - 📹 Video (ITA)
100+ attendees. Feedback
@Italian C++ Conference 2016 – May 2016/Milan (Italy)

Grafici bellissimi plug & play (60’)
About how to use QCustomPlot (demo project shown) - Slides (ITA)
30+ attendees
@QtDay 2016 – April 2016/Florence (Italy)

2015

Perché nel 2015 parliamo ancora di C++? (60’)
C++ in 2015. Why should we still care about?
150+ attendees. Feedback
@Codemotion Milan 2015 – November 2015/Milan (Italy)

[Workshop] C++ dal ‘90 ad oggi (120’)
Refactoring legacy C++ code to modern C++.
25+ attendees. Facilitated with: Marco Foco
@Microsoft Community Days 2015 – March 2015/Milan (Italy)

Perché nel 2015 parliamo ancora di C++? (90’)
C++ in 2015. Why should we still care about? - Slides (ITA)
80+ attendees. Feedback
@Italian C++ Community Meetup – February 2015/Pordenone (Italy)

2014

[Workshop] C++ from ‘90 to ‘14 (120’)
Refactoring legacy C++ code to modern C++.
25+ attendees. Facilitated with: Gianluca Padovani, Marco Foco
@Italian Agile Day 2014 – November 2014/Ancona (Italy)

Meet the Rule of Zero (60′)
Slides (ENG)
50+ attendees. Feedback
@Italian C++ Community Meetup – November 2014/Bologna (Italy)

Il nuovo C++? Torniamo alle basi (60′)
Slides (ITA) - 📹 Video (ITA)
20+ attendees.
@Microsoft Community Days Rome 2014 – September 2014/Rome (Italy)

C++11 in Action (60′)
Slides (ITA) - 📹 Video (ITA)
60+ attendees.
@Microsoft Community Days 2014 – February 2014/Milan (Italy)

2013

Effective Code Transformations in C++ (60′)
40+ attendees. Feedback
Co-Speaker: Paolo Polce
@Italian Agile Day 2013 – November 2013/Reggio Emilia (Italy)

Events & Meetups

I’m used to organizing events, meetups and other activities.
In addition to my community activities (Italian C++ Community, Coding Gym and ML Modena), I’m happy to help other user groups. For example, I am a regular “worker” of ConoscereLinux.

Every meetup and event I have organized was totally free to attend.

2024

DevFest Modena 2024

DevFest Modena 2024

Modena, October 2024.

I co-organized the first GDG DevFest in Emilia Romagna, held in Modena. The event took place at Laboratorio Aperto and was officially recognized by the Comune di Modena. It was a collaborative effort among the local communities: GDG Cloud Modena, Flutter Modena, Modena Full Stack, ML Modena, Reggio Emilia Full Stack, and ConoscereLinux.
350 attendees (440 registered people - ~20% drop).

Sponsors: Google, ZURU Tech, QubicaAMF, expert.ai, DualBit S.r.l., Credem Banca, Netframe, Tetra Pak, JetBrains, Quix, Juno, Atobit, NetAi, Studio DGP.

The organizing team was led by Maurizio Ipsale and Davide Muzzarelli, with support from Mirko Giglioli, Elia Tolin, Carmine Zaccagnino, Francesco Boschetti, and myself. Additionally, around 25 incredible staff members helped make this event a success.

Highlights:

  • 21 tech talks
  • 3 workshops
  • 1 “maker dojo” for high school boys and girls
  • Networking breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • AI
  • Docker, kubernetes and containerization
  • software quality
  • refactoring and app modernization
  • testing
  • software patterns and paradigms

Additional references:

Milan C++ Meetups - Season 2024

Italian C++ Meetup Milan 2024

I have organized and promoted monthly C++ meetups, hosted in person at various locations in Milan.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + pizza and networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Modena C++ Meetups - Season 2024

Italian C++ Meetup Modena 2024

I have organized and promoted monthly C++ meetups, hosted in person at MakeIt and ConoscereLinux.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + pizza and networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Italian C++ Meetup at Microsoft House 2024

Italian C++ Meetup Milano - May 2024

I have organized an Italian C++ Meetup in Milan, hosted at Microsoft House. The meetup consisted of a frontal session about C++23 with technical contents and some interaction with the audience. Afterwards, pizza and networking nearby.
60+ attendees.
📸 Some pictures here.

La Notte dell’Intelligenza Artificiale

La notte dell'Intelligenza Artificiale

Modena, January 2024.

I coordinated with Giorgia Franchini the organization of the first edition of “La notte dell’Intelligenza Artificiale”, a networking event dedicated to Artificial Intelligence. The event took place at “Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia”.
230 attendees (320 registered people - ~28% drop).

The event was part of ML Modena events.

Schedule:

  • 6:00pm-6:30pm: open doors
  • 6:30pm-7:00pm: event kick-off
  • 7:00pm-9:00pm: buffet, networking and interaction
  • 9:00pm-9:30pm: event closing

Poster sessions and exhibitors:

  • Giuseppe Fiameni (Nvidia)
  • Giovanni Gualdi & Francesco Solera (Deep Vision)
  • Maurizio Ipsale (Datatonic)
  • Matteo Fabbri (GoatAI)
  • Paolo Bertellini (ABACO)
  • Micaela Verucchi (HiPeRT)
  • Team Unimore

We hosted AI-based games and a “networking passport” to foster interaction with speakers and exhibitors.

📸 Some pictures here

ML Modena Meetups - Season 2024

ML Modena Meetups

I have organized and promoted monthly Artificial Intelligence meetups, hosted at Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia and online on YouTube.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + pizza and networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2024

Coding Gym Modena - 2024

By now, I have organized 4 sessions in Modena attended by 105 people overall.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2023

Modena C++ Meetups - Season 2023

Italian C++ Meetup Modena 2023

I have organized and promoted monthly C++ meetups, hosted in person at MakeIt and ConoscereLinux.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + pizza and networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

ML Modena Meetups - Season 2023

ML Modena Meetups

I have organized and promoted monthly Artificial Intelligence meetups, hosted at Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia and online on YouTube and AirMeet.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + pizza and networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Italian C++ Conference 2023

Italian C++ Conference 2023

Rome, June 2023.

I coordinated the organization of the seventh edition of the Italian C++ Conference, the greatest conference in Italy entirely dedicated to C++. The event took place at “Università Roma Tre”.
207 attendees (275 registered people - ~25% drop).

Speakers: Vittorio Romeo, Raffaele Rialdi, Maurizio De Pascale, Mohamed Selim, Jonathan Müller, Mike Shah, Conor Hoekstra, Davide Di Gennaro, Marco Manino, Alberto Barbati, Luis Caro Campos, Davide Bianchi.

Sponsors: Luxoft, Qubica, AIV, ZURU, think-cell, KDAB, ELT

My staff included: Franco Milicchio, Stefano Saraulli, Vincenzo Pelosio, Alessandro Vergani, Riccardo Brugo, Alberto Barbati, Federico Ficarelli, Federico Pasqua.

Highlights:

  • 10x50’ talks
  • 2x30’ short talks
  • 10th anniversary celebration (cake + game)
  • Networking breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • C++23 features
  • Unreal Engine in C++
  • Game Development
  • Code optimization
  • Compilation times optimization
  • C++ in safetey-critical environments

Additional references:

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2023

Coding Gym Modena - 2023

By now, I have organized 5 sessions in Modena attended by 113 people overall.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2022

Hybrid C++ Meetups - Season 2022

Italian C++ Meetup Hybrid - Jan 2022

I have organized and promoted monthly hybrid C++ meetups, hosted in person at MakeIt and ConoscereLinux.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + pizza and networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Italian C++ Meetup at Microsoft House 2022

Italian C++ Meetup Milano - May 2022

I have organized an Italian C++ Meetup in Milan, hosted at Microsoft House. The meetup consisted of an interactive session about C++20 with technical contents, games, and quizzes. Afterwards, pizza and networking nearby.
40+ attendees.
📸 Some pictures here.

Hybrid ML Modena Meetups - Season 2022

ML Modena Meetups

I have organized and promoted monthly Artificial Intelligence meetups, hosted at Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia and online on YouTube and AirMeet.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + pizza and networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2022

Coding Gym Modena - 2022

I organized 5 sessions in Modena, 1 in Lecce, and 1 in Brianza, attended by 101 people overall.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2021

Online and Hybrid C++ Meetups - Season 2021

Italian C++ Meetup Online - Jan 2021

I have organized and promoted monthly C++ meetups, hosted online only during the first half of the year (on Remo and YouTube) and hosted in person and online from September.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + online networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Online and Hybrid ML Modena Meetups - Season 2021

ML Modena Meetup Online - Jan 2021

I have organized and promoted monthly Artificial Intelligence online meetups, hosted on AirMeet.

Every meetup consisted of 1-hour technical session + online networking:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Italian C++ Conference 2021

Italian C++ Conference 2021

Online-only, June 2021.

I coordinated the organization of the sixth edition of the Italian C++ Conference, the biggest C++ event C++ made by the Italian C++ Community. The conference has been co-organized with Alessandro Vergani, Stefano Saraulli and Riccardo Brugo. Due to COVID-19 emergency, this event was online-only.
152 virtual check-ins (401 registered people - ~62% drop).

Keynote speaker: Sean Parent.

Speakers: Victor Ciura, Walter E Brown, Paolo Severini, Sandor Dargo, Roland Grinis, Yuri Minaev, Mattia Verasani, Eric Tondelli, Marek Krajewski, Kris van Rens, Kris van Rens, Marcos Rojas, Clare Macrae, Roi Barkan.

Highlights:

  • 1x90’ live keynote
  • 10x50’ live talks (YouTube and Remo)
  • 2x30’ live short talks (YouTube and Remo)
  • Networking and live interaction on Remo

Topics:

  • WebAssembly
  • Crash handling
  • Refactoring and tools
  • Static analyser concepts
  • Two talks on AI
  • Two talks on the language (templates, concepts, constness)
  • Polymorphic resource allocators
  • The Hook Library
  • An enlightening talk about min, max and operator<

Additional references:

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2021

Coding Gym Modena - 2021

I organized 1 session in Modena, attended by 16 people overall. The COVID emergency knocked out Coding Gym in 2021.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2020

Modena/Online C++ Meetups - Season 2020

Meetup Modena - Feb 2020

I have organized and promoted monthly C++ meetups in Modena, hosted at MakeIt and ConoscereLinux.
Actually, most of them were hosted online due to COVID-19 emergency.

Every meetup consisted of 2 hours of technical contents (up to the speaker) and networking dinner afterwards:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

Machine Learning Modena Kick-Off Event

ML Modena Kick-Off Event

Online-only, December 2020.

I coordinated the organization of the kick-off event of ML Modena (Machine Learning Modena), the first (and only) open community on Artificial Intelligence in Modena. Due to COVID-19 emergency, this event was online-only.
120 virtual check-ins (190 registered people - ~37% drop).

Highlights:

  • 1x20’ live intro and 1x60’ technical session
  • Networking and live interaction on Remo

Additional references:

C++ Day 2020

C++ Day 2020

Online-only, November 2020.

I coordinated the organization of the fifth edition of the C++ Day, one full-day of C++ made by the Italian C++ Community. Due to COVID-19 emergency, this event was online-only.
180 virtual check-ins (440 registered people - ~60% drop).

Speakers: Alberto Bignotti, Michele Mischitelli, Lorenzo Veneri, Kris van Rens, Gianluca Padovani, Yuri Valentini, Mattia Verasani, Marco Arena.

My staff included: Stefano Saraulli and Riccardo Brugo.

Highlights:

  • 7x50’ live talks (YouTube and Remo)
  • Networking and live interaction on Remo

Topics:

  • How to design and develop a Telegram bot in C++
  • Game Development with Unreal Engine 4
  • Interoperable AI with ONNX and ONNXRuntime in C++
  • WebAssembly
  • TDD in C++
  • WebRTC in C++
  • Value categories in C++

Additional references:

Italian C++ Conference 2020

Italian C++ Conference 2020

Online-only, June 2020.

I coordinated the organization of the fifth edition of the Italian C++ Conference, the only conference in Italy entirely dedicated to C++. Due to COVID-19 emergency, this event was online-only.
415 virtual check-ins, 250 keynote live viewers (502 registered people - ~18% drop).

Keynote speaker: Nicolai Josuttis.

Speakers: Alberto Barbati, Fabio Fracassi, Jens Weller, Nicolò Valigi, Ivan Čukić, Conor Hoekstra, Walter E. Brown, Julia Reid, Larry Bank, Franco Diaspro, Arno Schödl.

Sponsors: AIV, Think-cell, LEICA/Hexagon.

My staff included: Alessandro Vergani, Stefano Saraulli, Alessandro Pezzato, Mattia Verasani, Andrea Barbadoro, Philipp Lenk, Riccardo Brugo, Elvis Dukaj.

Highlights:

  • 1x90’ live keynote
  • Live Talks: 7x50’
  • Pre-recorded talks: 3x30’, 1x45’
  • Networking and interaction on Discord server

Topics:

  • Move semantics
  • C++20 in general and one talk focusing on text formatting
  • C++ Development with Visual Studio Code
  • Coding Patterns
  • Writing efficient C++
  • The Silicon Valley coding interview
  • Current trends in the C++ Community

Additional references:

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2020

Coding Gym Modena - 2020

I organized 1 session in Modena and 2 online, attended by 32 people overall. The COVID emergency knocked out Coding Gym in 2020.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2019

Modena C++ Meetups - Season 2019

Meetup Modena - Feb 2019

I have organized and promoted monthly C++ meetups in Modena, hosted at MakeIt and ConoscereLinux.

Every meetup consisted of 2 hours of technical contents (up to the speaker) and networking dinner afterwards:

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:

C++ Day 2019

C++ Day 2019

Parma, November 2019.

I coordinated the organization of the fourth edition of the C++ Day, an italian event dedicated to C++, co-organized with Elettric80. The event took place at the University of Parma.
170 attendees (200 registered people - ~15% drop).

Sponsors: Elettric80, Beckhoff, Leica.

My staff included: Alessandro Vergani, Illya Dudchenko, Federico Ficarelli.

Highlights:

  • 8x50’ talks
  • 2x30’ short talks
  • 1x45’ interactive Q&A panel
  • Networking (3 hours) breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • Main Theme: C++ in Industrial Automation
  • Cross-compilation in C and C++
  • Python bindings in C++
  • STL algorithms design
  • TBB Dataflow
  • Design patterns and idioms in C++ use cases
  • MISRA C++
  • Monte Carlo Tree Search algorithms in C++
  • From iterators to ranges

Additional references:

Italian C++ Conference 2019

Italian C++ Conference 2019

Milan, June 2019.

I coordinated the organization of the fourth edition of the Italian C++ Conference, the only conference in Italy entirely dedicated to C++. The event took place at “Politecnico di Milano”. This event was the biggest and the most important I have ever organized.
240 attendees (310 registered people - ~23% drop).

Keynote speaker: Andrei Alexandrescu.

Speakers: Rainer Grimm, Marc Goodner, Davide Bianchi, Nicolò Valigi, Javier Garcia Sogo, Dmitry Kozhenikov, James Turner, Alberto Barbati, Michele Caini, Roberto De Ioris.

Sponsors: JFrog/CONAN, AIV, JetBrains, KDAB, Sigeo, Develer, Hexagon.

My staff included: Alessandro Vergani, Gian Lorenzo Meocci, Guido Pederzini, Illya Dudchenko, Federico Ficarelli, Raffaele Rialdi.

Highlights:

  • 1x90’ keynote
  • 8x50’ talks
  • 2x30’ short talks
  • 1x20’ featured talk
  • Networking (3 hours) breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • C++20: Concepts, Modules and Coroutines
  • Cross-platform code with Microsoft tools
  • Link Time and Profile Guided Optimization
  • CONAN C/C++ Package Manager
  • Entity Component System Pattern

Additional references:

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2019

Coding Gym Modena - 2019

I organized 10 sessions in Modena and 1 in Bologna, attended by 201 people overall.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2018

Modena C++ Meetups - Season 2018

Meetup Modena - Feb 2018

I have organized and promoted monthly C++ meetups in Modena, hosted at MakeIt and ConoscereLinux.
Picures

Every meetup consisted of 2 hours of technical contents (up to the speaker) and networking dinner afterwards.

List of meetups, including speakers and topics discussed:


C++ Day 2018

Italian C++ Conference 2018

Pavia, November 2018.

I coordinated the organization of the third edition of the C++ Day, an event fully dedicated to C++. The event took place at University of Pavia and was co-organized with Riccardo Brugo, Federico Pasqua and the Physics Department of University of Pavia.
110 attendees (150 registered people - ~26% drop).

Keynote speaker: John Biddiscombe.

Speakers: Alberto Barbati, Alberto Bignotti, Manlio Morini, Fabrizio Radaelli, Giorgio Zoppi, Michele Caini, Sebastiano Galazzo, Federico Pasqua, Alfio Lazzaro.

Sponsors: Accenture, Bartek Stories.

Highlights:

  • 1x90’ keynote
  • 8x50’ talks
  • 2x20’ short talks
  • Networking (3 hours) breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • HPX
  • C++20
  • GIS in C++
  • Reflection
  • Template Metaprogramming
  • C++/Python integration with Cython
  • AI and Microsoft Cognitive Services
  • IoT with RTI DDS Connext
  • Convex Optimization
  • Evolutionary Algorithms

Additional references:


Italian C++ Conference 2018

Italian C++ Conference 2018

Milan, June 2018.

I coordinated the organization of the third edition of the Italian C++ Conference, the only conference in Italy entirely dedicated to C++. The event took place at University “Bicocca” of Milan.
200 attendees (250 registered people - ~20% drop).

Keynote speaker: Peter Sommerlad.

Speakers: Alberto Barbati, Anastasia Kazakova, Diego Rodriguez Losada, Paolo Severini, Vittorio Romeo, Denis Panin, Felix Petriconi, Emanuele Bartolesi, Raffele Rialdi.

Sponsors: Bloomberg, JFrog/CONAN, AIV, JetBrains, Aresys, KDAB, Recognition Robotics, Sigeo, Develer, COMELZ.

My staff included: Alessandro Vergani, Gian Lorenzo Meocci, Marco Foco, Guido Pederzini, Illya Dudchenko, Raffaele Rialdi.

Highlights:

  • 1x90’ keynote
  • 8x50’ talks
  • 2x20’ short talks
  • Networking (3 hours) breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • Time-Travel Debugging in Windows
  • WebAssembly
  • Debug without Running
  • Coroutines
  • Channels
  • CONAN C/C++ Package Manager
  • Writing and using compile-time heterogeneous hash table in C++17
  • Zero-allocation & no type erasure futures
  • Work with C++ on Mac Linux and Windows with Visual Studio Code
  • CppWinRT and the future of Windows Desktop development

Additional references:

Modena Tech Summit 2018

Modena Tech Summit 2018

Modena, January 2018.

I co-organized the first Modena Tech Summit, the first free conference in Modena about IT and Tech where professionals, companies and local communities meet and share knowledge. The event took place at “Centro Culturale Giacomo Alberione”, an historical location in the lovely center of Modena.
75 attendees (100 registered people - ~25% drop).

Highlights:

  • 6x50’ talks
  • 1x20’ Q/A panel about “women in tech”
  • networking breaks and lunch

Topics:

  • Reactive Programming
  • Wordpress
  • Test in Javascript
  • Knowledge graphs
  • Projects cost estimation
  • Computational Design & open-source

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2018

Coding Gym Modena - 2018

I organized 10 sessions in Modena and 1 in Bologna, Pauda, Milan, Rome, and Turin, attended by 284 people overall.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2017

C++ Day 2017

C++ Day 2017

Modena, December 2017.

I coordinated the organization of the second edition of the C++ Day, a free event entirely dedicated to C++ in the italian language. The event took place at “Centro Culturale Giacomo Alberione”, an historical location in the lovely center of Modena.
110 attendees (120 registered people - ~8% drop).

Speakers: Carlo Pescio, Daniele Pallastrelli, Stefano Cristiano, Alberto Bignotti, Sebastiano Galazzo.

Sponsors: Recognition Robotics, Sigeo srl, Elettric80.

My staff included: Guido Pederzini, Alessandro Vergani, Illya Dudchenko.

Highlights:

  • 5x60’ talks
  • Networking breaks and lunch.
  • Hosted a talk about Artificial Intelligence given by Sebastiano Galazzo, (on the day of the event) the only Italian person holding a Microsoft MVP title on “AI” category.

Topics:

  • (Slightly) Smarter Smart Pointers
  • C++ and UI: un unorthodox approach
  • Immediate Mode Graphical User Interfaces in C++
  • C/C++ interoperability with other languages
  • Artificial Intelligence Today

Additional references:

Italian C++ Conference 2017

Italian C++ Conference 2017

Milan, June 2017.

I coordinated the organization of the second edition of the Italian C++ Conference, the only conference in Italy entirely dedicated to C++. The event took place at University “Bicocca” of Milan.
160 attendees (220 registered people - ~28% drop).

Keynote speaker: Michael Wong.

International speakers: Bartosz Milewski, Phil Nash, Jens Weller, Dietmar Kühl.

Italian speakers: Davide Di Gennaro, Raffaele Rialdi, Carlo Pescio, Paola Presutto, Stefano Cristiano.

Sponsors: Bloomberg, JetBrains, KDAB, Recognition Robotics, Think-Cell, Abaco Group, JFrog

My staff included: Raffaele Rialdi, Franco Milicchio, Alessandro Vergani, Gian Lorenzo Meocci, Marco Foco, Guido Pederzini, Illya Dudchenko.

Highlights:

  • 1x75’ keynote
  • 9x60’ talks
  • 1x20’ panel on Diversity moderated by Bloomberg
  • Networking breaks and lunch.
  • This was the first community-event in Italy where Microsoft Italy has been hosted to talk about Diversity and Inclusion.

Topics:

  • Executors and the future of Heterogeneous Programming in C++
  • Functional Programming in C++ and Monads in C++
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Bridging C# and Javascript with C++
  • Boost and Qt communities
  • Networking framework inspired by NodeJS written in C++
  • An overly simple C++ idiomatic pattern language for message-based product families

Additional references:

The Future of Programming with Bartosz Milewski / Modena

The Future of Programming, June 2017

Modena, June 2017.

I organized a meetup with the special guest Bartosz Milewski, hosted by Conoscere Linux, in Modena. Bartosz shared his vision and predictions on “the Future of Programming”. 45+ attendees.

Mini-Meetup May / Modena

Mini-Meetup Modena May 2017

Modena, May 2017.

I moderated an “evening mini-meetup” of the Italian C++ Community, hosted by Conoscere Linux, in Modena. 15+ attendees.

I moderated an interactive discussion on The C++ Triad: iterators, containers and algorithms, by explaining the basic concepts and solving live programming challenges. I wrapped up the contents here.

Mini-Meetup March / Bologna

Mini-Meetup Bologna March 2017

Bologna, March 2017.

I moderated an “evening mini-meetup” of the Italian C++ Community, hosted by XPUG Bologna, in Bologna. 20+ attendees.

I moderated an interactive discussion on C++17 for the daily job, by showing live examples of the most interesting features of C++17 online-compiled and run on GCC, Clang and Visual C++. I wrapped up the contents here.

Mini-Meetup February / Modena

Mini-Meetup Modena Feb 2017

Modena, February 2017.

I moderated the first “evening mini-meetup” of the Italian C++ Community, hosted by Conoscere Linux, in Modena. 15+ attendees.

I moderated an interactive discussion on C++17 for the daily job, by showing live examples of the most interesting features of C++17 online-compiled and run on GCC, Clang and Visual C++. I wrapped up the contents here.

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2017

Coding Gym Modena - 2017

I organized 10 sessions in Modena, attended by 104 people overall.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2016

C++ Day 2016

C++ Day 2016

Florence, October 2016.

I coordinated the organization of the 1st edition of the C++ Day, an event fully dedicated to C++ made by the Italian C++ Community. The event took place at Hotel Londra, in Florence.
Sponsors: Develer and Soft 2000
80+ attendees (100+ registered people - ~20% drop).

Information are also on isocpp.org: https://isocpp.org/blog/2016/10/cpday16

My staff included: Raffaele RIaldi, Franco Milicchio, Stefano Saraulli, Gian Lorenzo Meocci, Marco Foco.

Highlights:

  • 6x60’ talks
  • 1x45’ Q/A panel
  • 1x60’ coding dojo
  • 1x135’ workshop
  • Networking breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • C++17: what’s new for the daily job
  • High Performance Streaming with Kafka & C++
  • Qt Graphics Stack
  • Data Oriented Design in C++
  • Modern C++ for the Windows Runtime (probably the first public talk about this topic after Kenny Kerr’s one at CppCon!)
  • API Design

Additional references:

Italian C++ Conference 2016

Italian C++ Conference 2016

Milan, May 2016. Feedback.

I coordinated the organization of the 1st edition of the Italian C++ Conference, the first and only Italian conference fully dedicated to C++. The event took place at University “Bicocca”.

Special guest: James McNellis
Sponsor: RogueWave Software
100+ attendees (130+ registered people - ~22% drop).

Social story (tweets, pictures, etc).

Information are also on isocpp.org: https://isocpp.org/blog/2016/04/italiancpp-conf-2016

My staff included: Raffaele Rialdi, Franco Milicchio, Alessandro Vergani, Gian Lorenzo Meocci, Marco Foco, Paolo Severini.

Highlights:

  • 5x60’ talks
  • 1x40’ Q/A panel
  • 1x30’ sponsor talk
  • Networking breaks and lunch.

Topics:

  • CoRoutines in Visual C++ and ISO proposal
  • How responsibility, discipline and guidelines can improve programming in C++
  • Microsoft Casablanca Rest SDK and demos
  • Ideas for teaching Modern C++
  • Microsoft CRT Refactoring and Modernization

Additional references:

Coding Gym Modena - Season 2016

Coding Gym Modena - 2016

I created Coding Gym and organized 8 sessions in Modena (the very first one in Bologna), attended by 77 people overall.

More details on each session here, 📸 pictures here.

2015

Italian C++ Community Meetup Rome

Italian C++ Meetup Rome 2015

I coordinated the organization of a half-day C++ meetup in Rome.
Rome, October 2015. Feedback.
Co-organizer: Franco Milicchio
30+ attendees.

Highlights:

  • 2×60′ talks
  • 2×30′ talks
  • Networking breaks and lunch
  • UG Program Lottery for books (powered by O’Reilly)

Topics:

  • Clang & LLVM overview and some internals
  • Mobile Development in C++ and C# with Xamarin
  • Js integration through Google V8
  • Porting iOS/Android apps to Windows via Microsoft Bridge

📸 Pictures

Italian C++ Community Meetup Florence

Italian C++ Meetup Florence 2015

I coordinated the organization of a full-day C++ meetup in Florence.
Florence, June 2015. Feedback.
Co-Organizer: Mena Marotta (Develer srl)
Special guest: Bartosz Milewski.
50+ attendees.

Social story (tweets, pictures, etc).

Highlights:

  • 4×60′ talks
  • 2×45′ talks
  • 1×30′ lightning talk
  • Networking breaks and lunch
  • UG Program Lottery for books (powered by O’Reilly) and licenses (powered by JetBrains)

Topics:

  • C++ and why you care
  • CAT: a C++14 Functional Library
  • Teaching C++14 on Raspberry PI 2
  • Game-Development in C++11/14
  • Solving Constraint Satisfaction Problem using monads with Bartosz Milewski
  • Boost.SIMD and best practices for running C++ code fast

📸 Pictures

Italian C++ Community Meetup Pordenone

Italian C++ Meetup Pordenone 2015

I co-organized a full-day C++ meetup in Pordenone with Marco Parenzan.
Pordenone, February 2015. Feedback.
80+ attendees.

Social story (tweets, pictures, etc).

Highlights::

  • 1×90′ keynote
  • 1 common track (2×60’ talks)
  • 2 parallel tracks (3×60′ talks each one)
  • Networking breaks and lunch

Topics:

  • Keynote and theme of the day: “Why in 2015 still talking about C++?”
  • Introduction to C++11/14
  • C++98 -> C++11 migration use cases
  • Introduction to Qt
  • WinPhone, Android, iOS development in C++
  • Unreal Engine 4
  • Data Access in Modern C++ (sqlpp11 & ODB)
  • Chromium as a framework to write desktop apps in C++

📸 Pictures

2014

Italian C++ Community Meetup Bologna

Italian C++ Meetup Bologna 2014

I co-organized a C++ meetup in Bologna with Gianluca Padovani.
Bologna, November 2014. Feedback.
Special guest: Bartosz Milewski. 50+ attendees.

Highlights:

  • 1×60′ interactive and voting session
  • 2×60′ talks, 2×30′ lightning talks
  • 1×45′ Ask Us Everything Q/A panel
  • Networking breaks and lunch

Topics:

  • Monads in C++ with Bartosz Milewski
  • Rule of Zero
  • Developing a C++ Testing Framework
  • Dependency Injection in C++

📸 Pictures

Italian C++ Community Meetup Milan

Italian C++ Meetup Milan 2014

I organized the first meetup about C++ in Italy. Milan, June 2014. Feedback. 30+ attendees.

Highlights:

  • 4×30′ lightning talks
  • Networking breaks and lunch

Topics:

  • 1×45′ Ask Us Everything Q/A panel
  • C++ Concurrency with PPL
  • Actor model in C++
  • C++ lambdas
  • Functional Programming in C++

📸 Pictures

Coding Gym

Modena Coding Gym

In 2016 I created Coding Gym, a monthly programming lab format developed to practice programming and soft-skills. If you want to know more about the story of Coding Gym, please check out this page.

When people ask me “what is Coding Gym?”, I usually answer “at Coding Gym, we practice expressing ourselves through programming and collaboration”.

People who has attended Coding Gym for some years tell that Coding Gym is a friendly environment to:

  • practice and improve problem solving skills
  • practice collaborating, speaking, exchanging ideas with other people
  • practice understanding and balancing compromises in programming and software development
  • learn new algorithms, data structures and coding patterns
  • experiment with programming languages and paradigms they are not fluent with

In 2016, I started up Coding Gym in Modena, and since 2018 I have developed a format that has been adopted by other “trainers” to bring Coding Gym in new places. For coordinating this, I have been leading the community of “trainers” of Coding Gym that operates behind the scenes. Currently, Coding Gym is active in Modena, Padua, Milan, Turin, Bari, Lecce, Bassano del Grappa, and Rome.

The official website contains more details, next and past events, and pictures.

Machine Learning Modena (ML Modena)

ML Modena First Event

In 2020 I co-founded ML Modena, the first open community about Artificial Intelligence in the Modena area. The community is part of the network of IAML, the Italian Association for Machine Learning.

The very first event planned for February 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19 emergency and re-organized in December as online-only event.

Popular posts

In 2012, I was the first Italian who published an article on isocpp.org, the official C++ Standard Foundation website.

My professional blogging activity started in 2011 on Growing Up.

isocpp.org Publications

Some of my blog posts from my tech blog have been published on isocpp.org too:

C++ in Competitive Programming

In 2016, I started the blog series C++ in Competitive Programming, about algorithms, idioms and usage of C++ for solving programming challenges. Every post in the series have been published on isocpp.org too.

Current installments:

SObjectizer Tales

In 2023, I started the blog series SObjectizer Tales, about concurrent C++, made simple. In this series, I progressively develop a program to acquire and process webcam images while exploring the many features of SObjectizer, a library that simplifies concurrent application development using message passing and the actor model. Every post in the series have been published on isocpp.org too. The series is also available on dev.to.

Check out all the published installments here.

Projects and Repos

Refer to my Github page for more details.

Some of my projects/experiments follow:

  • Obbelisco - Unity3D/C# racing game set in Rome EUR, inspired by Italian movie: “Velocità Massima”. Co-developed with a friend of mine who wants to stay anonymous.

  • anvedi – Prototypal Qt Data Viewer made with QCustomPlot

  • Meshcripter – OpenGL and Qt tool for mesh rendering and scripting

  • QShell – Qt shell-like control

  • daje – Collection of Algorithms and Data Structures

  • PPL Agents - Some abstractions built on top of Microsoft’s PPL agents

  • bellamy - A Rust program to open an URL in a chromeless window (based on WebView2)

  • bonnet - A Windows program that opens a webpage into a self-hosted window and, optionally, launches a backend process

  • calico - The program behind my blog series “SObjectizer Tales” that acquires and processes webcam images

Podcasts

I recorded a few podcasts (in Italian) for .netPodcast, the popular Italian website dedicated to Microsoft technologies:

Timeline

Here’s a quick look at some key moments that have shaped my professional journey — mostly “firsts” that stand out. This is as much a reminder for myself as it is a snapshot of my path. I’m not the type to say, “I started programming at 8” or such, as if that’s the only way to become a good developer. I didn’t spend my childhood glued to a screen, coding all night, avoiding sports, and obsessing over computers and videogames. Instead, I had a balanced and cheerful childhood, thanks to my family. I played sports, had fun, and just enjoyed being a kid. I was introduced to computers early on, and while I was instantly fascinated, I let that seed of passion grow, watering it from time to time without drowning or straining it. When the time was right, I was ready to dive in and take the next big step.

  • During ’90s
    • learned basics of computers and batch scripting
    • attended an intermediate class on the Office Suite at school
  • 2000
    • written my first line of Pascal, at school
    • written my first line of HTML, at school
  • 2004
    • seen some C++ code, from a classmate who was developing a computer game
  • 2005
    • started BSc in Computer Engineering in Rome
    • written my first line of Java
  • 2006
    • attended Java Day 2006 - my first software conference ever
  • 2007
    • written my first line of C
    • installed and used a Linux distribution for the first time
  • 2008
    • studied object oriented patterns (GoF and GRASP) for the first time
    • discovered Functional Programming: practiced with OCaml for a few months and taken an exam with full mark
    • got my BSc in Computer Engineering in Rome
    • started MSc in Computer Engineering in Rome
  • 2009
    • coded with OpenGL for the first time and practiced graphics programming
    • written my first line of C++
  • 2010
    • coded with Qt and boost for the first time
    • written a glsl shader for the first time
    • got my MSc in Computer Engineering in Rome
  • 2011
    • started a professional blog
    • had my first job interview
    • started working at Reply
    • quit Reply
    • started working at Ferrari
    • started developing with C++ professionally
    • written my first line of C#
    • worked at the track for the first time, in Abu Dhabi
  • 2012
    • founded Facebook and LinkedIn groups about C++ in Italy: ++it, Italian C++ Community
  • 2013
  • 2014
    • curated my first technical track about C++ for a professional event (Community Days 2014)
    • organized my first meetup - the first Italian C++ Community meetup, in Milan
    • facilitated a workshop for the first time, at AgileDay 2014
    • attended Meeting C++ for the first time - my first C++ event ever
    • signed up for HackerRank for the first time
  • 2015
    • recorded my first podcast, for dotNetPodcast
    • given my first keynote session ever, at Italian C++ Meetup in Pordenone
    • given a talk in front of more than 150 people, at Codemotion Milan
  • 2016
  • 2017
    • given my first talk about Coding Gym at NoSlidesConf 2017
  • 2018
    • started developing Coding Gym as a “delocalized format”
    • co-organized Modena Tech Summit,
    • co-organized and co-moderated the first Coding Gym outside Modena (in Padua)
    • co-organized the first Coding Gym in Barcelona
    • co-organized and co-moderated the first Coding Gym in Milan
    • hosted the first “Coding Gym Trainers Summit” in Modena
    • officially joined the board of ConoscereLinux as a council member
    • co-organized and co-moderated the first Coding Gym in Rome and Turin
    • co-organized the first Coding Gym in Bari
    • co-founded Community Crumbs, a not-for-profit association
  • 2019
    • quit Ferrari
    • started working at Tetra Pak
  • 2020
    • founded ML Modena
    • organized my first online-only international C++ conference
    • given my first talk at an online-only conference (Italian Community Managers Summit 2020)
    • co-founded the ISO C++ Italian body
  • 2021
    • co-chaired my first C++ class for beginners
    • given my first talk supported by a few basic concepts of game-based learning
    • organized my first hybrid meetup
    • given my first talk (online) at a high school
  • 2022
    • co-organized the first Coding Gym in Lecce
  • 2023
  • 2024
    • co-organized the first Coding Gym in Latina
    • co-organized the first DevFest Modena (first also in Emilia Romagna)

Last Update: October 2024