The Geek Talk

Who is Nathan Marz?

I’m a programmer and blogger located in San Francisco. I work at BackType, where I build systems to provide insights into massive amounts of social media data. As part of my work, I authored an open-source project called Cascalog for processing data on Hadoop using the Clojure programming language.

I write about a variety of subjects on my blog, from technical posts to organizations I find interesting to building more effective companies. Writing is a way for me to explore and find holes in my ideas.

Where and when did you start programming?

I started programming in the 6th grade on my TI-82 graphing calculator. I would make games for myself and my friends and often programmed the TI-82 during math class instead of paying attention. In 8th grade I graduated to the TI-89 (which was like a supercomputer compared to the TI-82). I distributed some of my games over the internet and was blown away that people were actually downloading and playing my games. I finally picked up my first “real” programming language in 10th grade when I learned C++.

My code was really bad at first, but by experiencing the various nightmares that can occur with bad abstractions, I came to obsess over good, clean abstractions. This has benefited me greatly over my programming career.

Your favorite language (Clojure/Ruby/JAVA ..) and why?

Clojure is by far my favorite language. Clojure’s focus on minimizing accidental complexity really resonates with me. I love how universal the “seq” abstraction is, and I love having the power of macros when I need them. The way Clojure approaches state, identity, and concurrency really reduces complexity in programs.

I also have found the Clojure community to be filled with brilliant programmers. The libraries and tools created by the community are awesome.

What does your typical day look like?

I usually wake up around 11am. I generally go into the office twice a week and work from home the other days. When I’m at home, I go for a run at a park near my house sometime in the afternoon. I find running in nature to be a great counterbalance to being around computers so much.

During the day, I tend to work in few hour bursts taking breaks to eat, exercise, or hang out with my roommates. My most productive hours tend to be late at night between 10pm and 2am.

Overall, I work between 10-12 hours per day. I always read every night before I go to bed (currently reading “Creating Modern Capitalism”).

What do you do in your free time?

I play a lot of piano in my free time. I often play piano while ruminating over a problem.

I take improv classes now and then and really enjoy the collaborative creation process. Improv is a lot of fun and also a great way to meet people far removed from the startup/tech scene.

I’m also somewhat of a film buff. The most enjoyable movie I’ve seen recently is “A Shot in the Dark” starring Peter Sellers.

Current favorite apps?

I started using Emacs a few months ago and have been loving it. I use it for editing Clojure code and for its excellent Git integration.

I switched to Chrome from Firefox and have been very happy with the switch. I’ve found Chrome to be leaner and faster than Firefox. I just wish the Firefox extensions I use would get ported to Chrome so that I could drop Firefox altogether.

I also really like Skype for doing video chats. Skype has let me watch the progression of my two year old nephew who lives across the country.

What OS do you prefer?

I prefer Mac OSX for its Unix foundation and clean user interface.

Small picture for your Workplace?

Name something that has inspired you recently?

I am continuously inspired by the Delancey Street Foundation, an organization that takes in ex-cons and recovering drug addicts and helps them become productive members of society. Except for the founder, Mimi Silbert, the organization is run by the residents. Delancey Street operates a number of businesses, such as a restaurant and moving company, that serve as training schools for the residents. The organization is self-funded through its businesses and takes no government funding.

What do you prefer (and why)? Freelance work or full time employment?

I’ve never done freelance work so I can’t comment on it. I do really enjoy my current job as a full-time developer for a three person startup. I thrive with the freedom to choose how, when, and what I work on. I’ve worked for larger organizations and always felt restricted by them one way or another.

What are your personal projects and goals for 2011?

I want to continue enhancing Cascalog and keep building a great community around the project. I also plan to release some more projects I’ve built internally at BackType as open source and build communities around them.

I try to learn at least one language every year, and next year I’d like to learn Haskell. I especially want to gain a deep understanding of monads.

Finally, I want to continue improving as a writer and speaker. In particular, I’m looking to mix in metaphors and analogies into my writing and talks.