About

I’m Robin Penea⌗
I’m a passionated software engineer.
To me, software development is a craft. It has to be practiced, again and again. Through trial and error, it improves. With theoretical knowledge, the craft deepens.
I’ve been doing it for more than 15 years, and I love it. I worked in small startups and huge corporations. The constraints evolve, but the fundamentals stay the same:
- Understand the technical stack: where does it come from?
- Connect with the people: where do they want to go from here?
Tech⌗
I’m the most proficient⌗
- Android / Kotlin / Flutter — More than 5 years working full-time on the Android OS and created or maintained dozens of applications ;
- Python / Django — Started in 2010 with an entreprise oriented Dropbox-like product, I always integrated DevOps (Linux, Docker, Ansible, CI) as a natural extension of my backend development ;
- C++ / Qt — My attraction to low level graphics with OpenGL / Shaders naturally blended with C++. The encounter with Qt solidified my relationship with this language. It gave birth to a 525 pages book and multiple projects.
I’m ramping up my skills⌗
- Language Design — Designing my own interpreter and then compiler.
- Clojure — because one needs to study a different thought process to see his craft with new eyes ;
- Hypermedia websites — HTMX got me fired up about REST, HATEOAS, and alternative ways of designing websites
Last Technical Books⌗
- Hypermedia systems — Carson Gross
- High Performance Browser Networking — Ila Grigorik
- Crafting Interpreters — Robert Nystrom
- Writing A Compiler In Go — Thorsten Ball
- Writing An Interpreter In Go — Thorsten Ball
- Designing Data-Intensive Applications — Martin Kleppmann
- Getting Clojure — Russ Olsen
- Clojure for the Brave and True — Daniel Higginbotham
- Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests — Steve Freeman & Nat Pryce

Gryt is my company⌗
It embodies how I want to practice my craft: with dedication and attention.
Gryt stems from the English word — Grit. It is the combination of perseverance and motivation for a long term goal.
Goal⌗
My goal with Gryt is to strive for quality. There’s no such thing as a perfect product. But within the constraints, it’s possible to achieve the best possible product.
Values⌗
This goal can only be achieved with practical values. Only then, we’re able to measure up our decisions against this long term goal. I founded Gryt with the following principles:
- Resilience — Learning, Working and Living is hard. It’s a bumpy road and to play the long game, I have to show a lot of grit.
- Curiosity — An open mind unveils unexpected new paths. The sheer joy to learn new things and the hunger the question my preconceptions ;
- Quality — There’s no free lunch. My customers feel if the product was crafted with care. Quality attracts quality and appreciation ;