Hugh Sanderson

by Hugh Sanderson published on

Hugh Sanderson WWX 2014 skip-lb social
Hugh Sanderson

What hardware do you use?

I use all sorts of hardware. I mainly use a desktop PC (which I can boot to Linux) and Macbook air. But I also have various Android devices and an iPad(1), and a Mac-mini I use for builds.

What software do you use?

I spend most of my time in "vi", and I also really like tcsh for windows, which allows me to switch between all my dev machines without any friction.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Not sure, I seem to have a "mental stack" of things I would like to try, and get to the one that seems most fun at the time.

Which creatives/developers/artists do you admire most?

I admire John Carmack for his early work 3d graphics, and Steve Wozniak because I cut my teeth on an apple.

What contributions are you proud of?

I am pretty happy with Hxcpp and NME.

Did your contributions bring you work opportunities?

I have had some contracts, and suspect I could get more if I tried harder.

Do you use them in your projects?

I have a few projects on the go, all of which use NME and Hxcpp one way or another.

How did you get started with Haxe?

Initially for web/pc game dev, you can read about it here http://gamehaxe.com/2007/01/27/the-plan/ (has it really been 7 years?)

What problem does Haxe solve for you?

One code base for all targets.

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

Just start writing code. There is a small hump to get over, but you can be very productive in no time at all.

What Haxe libraries are you impressed by?

I like the design of the Haxe Flixel and haxeui libraries.

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

A cross-platform native gui set

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

I think there have been plenty of great games written in haxe. I don't think I've seen a "killer app", instead it is lots of smaller projects made easier on a day-to-day basis.

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

Haxe is moving pretty fast, so I'm hoping to be surprised. One interesting direction might be alternate front-ends to take advantage of existing libraries in other languages. I'm hoping to push NME (OpenFL) more into the media/image/audio processing direction.

Sell your wwx2014 session!

I've recently made big steps to help with native code integration. These include pointers, function pointers, different interger types and direct access to cffi abstract data. Come and see what's done and tell what else you need.

What is the best part of wwx for you?

The party. Oh, and meeting all the people you only know from twitter or github handles.