I am a software engineer, with strong interests in distributed systems, storage systems, data structures and algorithms.

I work at Booking.com in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

In my free time I hack on KingDB, a fast on-disk persistent key-value store.

Email: emmanuel [at] goossaert [dot] com

Blog | GitHub | LinkedIn

ARTICLES
Here is a selection of articles from my blog. For the full list, you can refer to the blog categories: Programming, Business, and Thoughts.
Algorithms and Infrastructure
How to implement an algorithm from a scientific paper
How to get started with infrastructure and distributed systems
Optimize your monitoring for decision-making
Management and Organizations
Autonomous Peer Learning at Booking.com and How You Can Do it in Your Organization
Coding for Solid State Drives
Part 1: Introduction and Table of Contents
Part 2: Architecture of an SSD and Benchmarking
Part 3: Pages, Blocks, and the Flash Translation Layer
Part 4: Advanced Functionalities and Internal Parallelism
Part 5: Access Patterns and System Optimizations
Part 6: A Summary – What every programmer should know about solid-state drives
Implementing a Key-Value Store
Table of Content
Part 1: What are key-value stores, and why implement one?
Part 2: Using existing key-value stores as models
Part 3: Comparative Analysis of the Architectures of Kyoto Cabinet and LevelDB
Part 4: API Design
Part 5: Hash table implementations
Part 6: Open-Addressing Hash Tables
Part 7: Optimizing Data Structures for SSDs
Part 8: Architecture of KingDB
Part 9: Data Format and Memory Management in KingDB
Part 10: High-Performance Networking: KingServer vs. Nginx
Hashing algorithms
Cuckoo hashing
Hopscotch hashing
Robin Hood hashing
Robin Hood hashing: backward-shift deletion
SIDE  PROJECTS
KingDB
KingDB is a fast persistent key-value store. More information: http://kingdb.org
FileFacade: Content classification and search
FileFacade is a web-based media center. It scans folders on a computer and automatically identify the movies corresponding to files. The prototype took 15 days to complete, and after testing the idea with users, I decided not to pursue any further.
Computer Vision
  • Face transformation: iPhone app and web app based on my previously developed AAM library. Learn more on my blog.
  • Hair Analysis and Detection: implementation of Computer Vision algorithms for the detection and analysis of hair in a picture. The resulting library is available for licencing. Learn more on my blog
  • Active Appearance Models: implementation of AAMs using OpenCV and C++ to track facial features in a photo.
Content Aggregation
Automatic content aggregation using Natural Language Processing algorithms, and generation of structured websites based on aggregated data.
ScreenSpace
Window management software that increases the usable screen space on netbooks running Microsoft Windows.
ActiSense
Digital Rights Management (DRM) platform for the payment and activation of licenses of applications on Microsoft Windows.
Prince
Extra-light API to enable Hadoop to use Python methods (now deprecated).
Doge
Automatic generation of in-code documentation block templates for Python
SciANN (Google Summer of Code 2009)
Gateway generator to automatically parse C-based library and generate gateways for the SciLab computation platform.
ColorLink
Art class project using Atmel Mega8 microcontrollers. The devices exchange information through infrared, and merge color states when coming closer.
Machine Learning: NPY
Python implementation of a back propagation artificial neural network. The goal was not performance but high flexibility.
Machine Learning: Precipitation Classification
Machine Learning class project. Implemented decision tree classifier in Java. Ranked #1 student team at the AMS Artificial Intelligence Competition 2008.
Map Matching
Implemented algorithms to match GPS points to vectorized road maps and determine the path of a vehicle, as part of an internship. The code is still in use at the company as of today.
Compilers
Created C++ libraries to build abstract syntax trees and perform semantic analysis for a simplified Pascal language.
PiSE
PiSE, Php Intersnet Site Engine is a CMS coded with PHP. I used PiSE to power the website of a small non-profit organization, which stayed up online for a year.
Audio Streaming
First year project at the ISIMA College. Used multiple buffering to multicast MP3 songs from a server to a host.
Raw socket
Various kernel and raw socket tools: packet forger, stealth file transfer through ICMP, FTP password sniffer, anti-rootkit module.