Dominic Giampaolo
Encyclopedia
Dominic B. Giampaolo is a software developer
who helped develop the Be File System
for the Be Operating System
(BeOS) and currently works at Apple Inc.
After graduating from Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Maine
in 1987, He started studying political science at American University
in Washington, DC, but changed to computer science after one semester. After completing his bachelor's degree, he did a master's degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
.
After graduating, he travelled to the west coast to work for Silicon Graphics
in their Advanced Systems Division. There he worked in the group that ported IRIX
to the 64-bit
R8000
microprocessor chip set and worked on the RealityEngine
and InfiniteReality
graphics systems. While working for Silicon Graphics, he located and fixed a bug in Discreet Logic's Flame compositing system that was delaying post-production of the motion picture Speed.
In October 1995, Giampaolo heard about the BeBox
from a friend at a poker game. Shortly after visiting the Be Inc.
offices to see a demo of the computer, he began working on the BeOS, working initially in a number of areas including the kernel and the POSIX
layer but most notably developing the Be File System alongside Cyril Meurillon, which replaced the Old Be File System written by Benoit Schillings
which had itself replaced the original flat file system written by Meurillon. The Be File System included a number of advances compared to other personal computer filesystems in use at the time, such as a journal
to improve reliability and support for extensive metadata
that can be indexed to respond quickly to searches.
After Be, Giampaolo worked at Google
and then QNX Software Systems. While at QNX he discovered a bug in the Instruction Fetch Unit of Intel Pentium II
and Pentium III
processors.
Since March 2002, Giampaolo has been working for Apple Inc., where he is part of the Mac OS X
file system
and Spotlight
groups.
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
who helped develop the Be File System
Be File System
The Be File System is the native file system for the BeOS....
for the Be Operating System
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
(BeOS) and currently works at Apple Inc.
After graduating from Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
in 1987, He started studying political science at American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in Washington, DC, but changed to computer science after one semester. After completing his bachelor's degree, he did a master's degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private university located in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States.Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities...
.
After graduating, he travelled to the west coast to work for Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
in their Advanced Systems Division. There he worked in the group that ported IRIX
IRIX
IRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
to the 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
R8000
R8000
The R8000 is a microprocessor chipset developed by MIPS Technologies, Inc. , Toshiba, and Weitek. It was the first implementation of the MIPS IV instruction set architecture. The R8000 is also known as the TFP, for Tremendous Floating-Point, its name during development.-History:Development of the...
microprocessor chip set and worked on the RealityEngine
RealityEngine
RealityEngine refers to a 3D graphics hardware architecture and a family of graphics systems that implemented the aforementioned hardware architecture that was developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics during the early to mid 1990s...
and InfiniteReality
InfiniteReality
InfiniteReality refers to a 3D graphics hardware architecture and a family of graphics systems that implemented the aforementioned hardware architecture that was developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics from 1996 to 2005...
graphics systems. While working for Silicon Graphics, he located and fixed a bug in Discreet Logic's Flame compositing system that was delaying post-production of the motion picture Speed.
In October 1995, Giampaolo heard about the BeBox
BeBox
The BeBox was a short-lived dual processor personal computer, offered by Be Inc. to run the company's own operating system, BeOS. Notable aspects of the system include its CPU configuration, I/O board with "GeekPort", and "Blinkenlights" on the front bezel....
from a friend at a poker game. Shortly after visiting the Be Inc.
Be Inc.
Be Incorporated was an American computer company founded in 1990, best known for the Be Operating System and BeBox personal computer. Be was founded by former Apple Computer executive Jean-Louis Gassée with capital from Seymour Cray....
offices to see a demo of the computer, he began working on the BeOS, working initially in a number of areas including the kernel and the POSIX
POSIX
POSIX , an acronym for "Portable Operating System Interface", is a family of standards specified by the IEEE for maintaining compatibility between operating systems...
layer but most notably developing the Be File System alongside Cyril Meurillon, which replaced the Old Be File System written by Benoit Schillings
Benoit Schillings
Benoit Schillings is a Belgian software engineer, who until recently was the chief technology officer at Myriad Group,. He is known for being one of the lead developers of the Be Operating System and is a noted amateur astronomer....
which had itself replaced the original flat file system written by Meurillon. The Be File System included a number of advances compared to other personal computer filesystems in use at the time, such as a journal
Journaling file system
A journaling file system is a file system that keeps track of the changes that will be made in a journal before committing them to the main file system...
to improve reliability and support for extensive metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
that can be indexed to respond quickly to searches.
After Be, Giampaolo worked at Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
and then QNX Software Systems. While at QNX he discovered a bug in the Instruction Fetch Unit of Intel Pentium II
Pentium II
The Pentium II brand refers to Intel's sixth-generation microarchitecture and x86-compatible microprocessors introduced on May 7, 1997. Containing 7.5 million transistors, the Pentium II featured an improved version of the first P6-generation core of the Pentium Pro, which contained 5.5 million...
and Pentium III
Pentium III
The Pentium III brand refers to Intel's 32-bit x86 desktop and mobile microprocessors based on the sixth-generation P6 microarchitecture introduced on February 26, 1999. The brand's initial processors were very similar to the earlier Pentium II-branded microprocessors...
processors.
Since March 2002, Giampaolo has been working for Apple Inc., where he is part of the Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
file system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
and Spotlight
Spotlight (software)
Spotlight is a system-wide desktop search feature of Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Spotlight is a selection-based search system, which creates a virtual index of all items and files on the system. It is designed to allow the user to quickly locate a wide variety of items on the computer,...
groups.