Publication
An iOS Developer’s Guide: From Objective-C to Learning Swift
https://www.toptal.com/developers/swift/from-objective-c-to-swift
Marco is currently unavailable
Marco Mustapic
Verified Expert in Engineering
Game Developer
Gent, Belgium
Toptal member since March 1, 2013
Bio
Marco is a Senior iOS developer specializing in game development with a particular affinity for coding conceptually original apps. He has coded extensively using Objective-C, and is proficient in designing architecture, algorithmic and performance problems, and slick UI effects and customization.
Portfolio
In The Pocket
Swift, GitLab CI/CD, Fastlane, Firebase, Mixpanel, RxSwift, Combine, iOS...
DPG Media
Swift, Go, In-app Purchase (IAP), UIKit, iOS SDK, AWS Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB...
Wave Reaction Inc.
Cocos2d-x, Android Studio, Android SDK, UIKit, Cocoa, Objective-C, iOS, Xcode...
Experience
- Cocoa Touch - 16 years
- UIKit - 16 years
- iOS - 16 years
- Agile Software Development - 14 years
- Swift - 9 years
- Game Development - 7 years
- Objective-C - 7 years
- Cocos2d - 4 years
Preferred Environment
Sublime Text, Git, Xcode
The most amazing...
...software I've ever created is a turn-based multiplayer penalty shootout game for J2ME devices. Users can play each other using different handsets.
Work Experience
iOS Engineer
2022 - 2024
In The Pocket
- Worked on a major update of the Payconiq app, a major mobile payments app used in Belgium by over 2 million users, as part of a team. Tasks included overhauling and updating the onboarding, payments, user profile, and user wallets.
- Followed up on each beta and release deployment to identify major issues and bugs. The app has a 99.97% crash-free rate and five stars in the App Store.
- Worked on a separate branch, implementing major changes for the new back end and user profile while the main branch continued development. I was responsible for merging and adapting the latest features to keep them in sync with the new architecture.
Technologies: Swift, GitLab CI/CD, Fastlane, Firebase, Mixpanel, RxSwift, Combine, iOS, Agile Software Development, Xcode, Scrum, Objective-C, UIKit, Cocoa Touch, Card Payments, Online Payments, Digital Payments, Fintech
iOS Engineer
2018 - 2022
DPG Media
- Developed the paywall iOS SDK and integrated it into the six major newspaper apps of the company (one million daily users). The SDK had no external dependencies to keep it as lightweight as possible and was 99.99% crash-free.
- Developed a back end in Go used by the iOS and Android SDKs that defined high-level representations of the paywalls (in a DSL I created) that are then rendered natively in the apps. Hundreds of thousands of these views were served daily.
- Developed the In App Purchase SDK for iOS, responsible for managing the recurrent subscriptions of the newspaper apps.
Technologies: Swift, Go, In-app Purchase (IAP), UIKit, iOS SDK, AWS Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB, SwiftUI, StoreKit, iOS, Agile Software Development, Xcode, Scrum, Cocoa Touch, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI)
iOS and Android Developer (via Toptal)
2014 - 2015
Wave Reaction Inc.
- Created an iPad app to visualize tracking information for various items (such as shipping containers) around the globe using the company's web services.
- Added functionality to existing iOS and Android tracking apps, keeping both native apps up to date with a web service back end.
- Developed a small game prototype for iOS using Cocos2d-x.
Technologies: Cocos2d-x, Android Studio, Android SDK, UIKit, Cocoa, Objective-C, iOS, Xcode, Cocoa Touch
Game Developer
2014 - 2014
The Paratroopers
- Implemented dynamic resource downloading so the same universal binary retrieves a specific graphics pack for the device's resolution.
- Created a simple cycling game using Cocos2d-x for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 8. All platforms use a shared C++ codebase.
- Worked with Cx/C++/C# interaction on Windows Phone 8 to reimplement some Cocos2d-x features that are not yet working for the platform.
Technologies: Windows Phone 8, Android, iOS, Cocos2d-x, Xcode
External iOS Developer
2012 - 2014
Pixeljam Inc. (via Agilar Argentina)
- Wrote the code to port an application named Dino Run to iOS.
- Worked from an existing codebase using an open source in-house framework that was based on OpenGL and Box2D.
- Coded tools for the content pipeline using Adobe Air and Flash.
Technologies: Adobe AIR, Adobe Flash, ActionScript 3, OpenGL, Box2D, C++, C, Objective-C, iOS, Xcode, UIKit, Cocoa Touch
iOS Developer
2013 - 2013
iOS Developer (via Toptal)
- Worked on a native iOS app for an indoor cycling studio using Objective-C, UIKit, and several frameworks (MagicalRecord, for example).
- Implemented several sections, starting from a PSD file and ending with the final, pixel-accurate, and fully functional view controller.
- Implemented complex and detailed UI controls using Core Graphics, Core Animation, and Photoshop.
Technologies: Git, Xcode, CocoaPods, Objective-C, Swift, MagicalRecord, iOS, UIKit, Cocoa Touch
iOS Developer
2011 - 2011
Quares IT Solutions
- Developed an app for the National Association of Anaesthesiologists using Core Data, UIKit and accessing .NET web services.
- Guided the UI design to make it more iOS friendly.
- Implemented a background synchronisation task so the users can still use the app without an internet connection.
Technologies: Web Services, .NET, Core Data, UIKit, iOS, Xcode, Cocoa Touch
iOS Developer
2011 - 2011
Triviapad (via Agilar Argentina)
- Created a multiplayer trivia app for iPad.
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/triviapad/id517613663?mt=8
- Wrote custom extensions in XMPP to handle all network communications between the server and players.
Technologies: UIKit, XMPP, Objective-C, iOS, Game Development, Xcode, Cocoa Touch
iOS Developer
2010 - 2011
QB9 (via Agilar Argentina)
- Ported the PC/Mac version of an app named Doors of the Mind to iPad/iPhone.
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doors-mind-inner-mysteries/id419945283?mt=8
- Used UIKit and CoreAnimation to implement all the graphic features.
- Used LUA scripts extensively to define levels and interactions within the game.
- Created a two-player penalty shootout game using Cocos2D, GameKit and OpenDE for physics.
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id395731394?l=es&mt=8
Technologies: Open Dynamics Engine (ODE), Cocos2d, Lua, C++, Objective-C, iOS, Game Development, Agile Software Development, Xcode, Scrum, UIKit, Cocoa Touch
iOS Developer
2008 - 2010
Kayxo (via Agilar Argentina)
- Worked on a cancelled iOS version of a popular board game, using UIKit.
- Wrote code for the single player mode, in which users face up to 3 AI's, each with a different strategy targeting different winning conditions.
- Implemented a multiplayer feature, with support for up to 4 players and in-game chat.
- Included functionality by which a competent AI would temporarily take over for users if they unexpectedly quit the application.
- Worked on a few prototypes for social media browsing apps, as well as one app supporting a digital pen and paper service.
Technologies: C++, Objective-C, iOS, Game Development, Agile Software Development, Xcode, Scrum, UIKit, Cocoa Touch
External iOS Developer
2008 - 2008
9Apps
- Worked on the port of the Decaf Android app to iPhone.
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/decaf/id413705858?mt=8&ls=1
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), iOS, Xcode, UIKit, Cocoa Touch
Original Creations Programming Team Lead
2005 - 2008
Gameloft Argentina
- Designed the programming admission tests and interviewed new candidates in coordination with the HR department.
- Supervised technical decisions for the Original Creations team projects.
- Discussed technical feasibility for new features with game designers, artists, and programmers.
- Ensured that Gameloft global coding standards and practices were correctly implemented by the team.
- Wrote code for Gameloft's universal J2ME framework.
- Coded ports for low end devices for several projects.
Technologies: J2SE, Python, J2ME, Game Development, Java ME
Co-founder
2003 - 2005
Angry Machine
- Founded a mobile game development company focused on original J2ME games.
- Developed Arcane, a fantasy card game for Nokia S40 devices that won the first prize in a Nokia Mobile Developer Contest in Argentina.
- Created 3 multiplayer games for a Spanish client using the Terraplay server technology. The games supported Nokia S30, S40, S60, Sony Ericsson T6xx, Siemens SL55 & 56 series, and Motorola Triplets devices.
Technologies: J2ME, Game Development, Java ME
Experience
Payconiq by Bancontact
Worked on a big revamp of the app, updating the payment back end and payment flows, onboarding, and user profile, while interacting with the back-end team during development. After the initial release, I worked on bug fixing, launch, in-app performance, and several new features (like a cloud wallet, for example).
Flywheel Sports iOS App (Development)
I worked on several sections for an indoor cycling app, matching the UI with PSD designs. I also fixed bugs and improved performance (touch and initial launch) in the booking section of the app. I optimized the code to make it compile faster (initial versions of Swift were very slow).
Doors of the Mind (Development)
Ported the game from OS X/Windows to iOS (iPad and iPhone)
Atlas Electoral de Andy Tow (Development)
Ported electoral database app from Android, using UIKit and sqlite
Decaf for iOS (Development)
An app for managing and monitoring Amazon EC2 infrastructure. Ported from the original Android version to a native app.
Anti-aliased Line Rendering Algorithm for Game Prototyping
I engineered a code that incrementally renders an anti-aliased line of any given width. This innovative solution was initially conceived and implemented for a game prototype I began developing several years ago, which featured lightning bolts as a key element.
Apilist
This is a voice-driven to-do list proof of concept. When the user speaks sentences like "remind me to buy oranges" or "mark gym inscription as complete," the app transcribes the speech to text and then uses OpenAI responses API with function calling to interact with the local to-do list. It was written in SwiftUI, using AVFoundation for mic input and voice playback, and OpenAI for transcription and function calling.
EurlexGPT
An agent that downloads new EU legislation and notices, making summaries and specific analyses specified by the user, and stores them in a database via tool calling. The results are browsed on a website.
The back end is written in Python and runs as Lambdas on AWS. I used DynamoDB for storage and React for the website to browse the analyses.
The back end is written in Python and runs as Lambdas on AWS. I used DynamoDB for storage and React for the website to browse the analyses.
Education
1996 - 2013
Master's Degree in Computer Science
Universidad de Buenos Aires - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Core Animation, RxSwift, CocoaPods, Facebook iOS SDK, OpenGL ES, OpenGL, MagicalRecord, React, OpenAI API
Tools
Xcode, Adobe AIR, Eclipse IDE, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), Adobe Flash, Git, Sublime Text, Android Studio, GitLab CI/CD, Fastlane, AWS CloudFormation
Languages
Swift, Objective-C, SQL, Python, Lua, ActionScript 3, Java, C++, C, Go
Frameworks
UIKit, Core Data, Cocoa Touch, ASP.NET MVC, iOS SDK, Cocos2d-x, Cocos2d, ReactiveCocoa, QuartzCore, SwiftUI, Combine, StoreKit, Box2D, Cocoa, Android SDK, .NET
Paradigms
Agile Software Development, Scrum, REST
Platforms
iOS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Java ME, AWS Lambda, J2ME, J2SE, Windows Phone 8, Android, Firebase, Mixpanel
Storage
SQLite, Amazon DynamoDB
Other
Game Development, In-app Purchase (IAP), Open Dynamics Engine (ODE), XMPP, Web Services, Card Payments, Online Payments, Digital Payments, Fintech, Obfuscation, AVFoundation, Computer Science
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