ChengΒ Xu
Staff Software Developer at Fortinet
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Summary
π€©
Rockstarπ
Top School
Top expert inNeovim and Vim Ecosystem Development
Cheng Xu is a Staff Software Developer at Fortinet with 13 years of experience bridging research and production-grade engineering in databases, blockchain, cryptography, and privacy-aware computing. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Hong Kong Baptist University and spent time as a visiting post-doc at Simon Fraser University, blending academic rigor with practical security engineering. Cheng has a strong open-source footprint as a former Homebrew core maintainer and contributor to high-profile projects like Homebrew/brew and Neovim, where he improved build systems and package management workflows. His work frequently focuses on build reliability, DevOps automation, and modernizing legacy C/C++ codebases, reflecting deep systems-level expertise. Based in Burnaby, BC, he brings a research-led mindset to secure software delivery, often surfacing subtle build and dependency issues that improve long-term maintainability.
13 years of coding experience
2 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor of Engineering - BE, Electronics & Information Engineering, Bachelor of Engineering - BE, Electronics & Information Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDoctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science at Hong Kong Baptist University
Chinese, English
Github Skills (61)
dependency-management10
git10
github-ci10
c-language10
lexer10
package-management10
python10
scripting10
command-line-interface10
linux10
bash10
build-system10
c1110
mpv10
refactor10
Programming languages (22)
Github contributions (5)
Homebrew/legacy-homebrew
Mar 2014 - Apr 2016
π The former home of Homebrew/homebrew (deprecated)
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:1439 commits, 1519 PRs, 1173 pushes in 2 years 1 month
Contributions summary:Cheng's commits focused on improving Python 3 support for various libraries, specifically addressing PySide, Shiboken, and other formula modifications. These changes included implementing necessary adaptations for Python 3 support, addressing compatibility issues with newer compilers, and updating build scripts to accommodate the newer versions. Additionally, the user was also involved in making minor improvements and updates to the documentation and general build process.
macoshomebrew
Homebrew/homebrew-bundle
Feb 2015 - Aug 2016
π¦ Bundler for non-Ruby dependencies from Homebrew, Homebrew Cask and the Mac App Store.
Role in this project:Full-stack Developer
Full-stack DeveloperContributions:97 commits, 86 PRs, 49 pushes in 1 year 6 months
Contributions summary:Cheng primarily contributed to the Homebrew Bundle project by modifying the codebase to enhance functionality and address existing issues. They focused on refactoring the codebase, adapting to the usage of command-line operations, and made changes to facilitate the dumping and cleanup of dependencies within the Brewfile. They also addressed gem support, and updated installation outputs.
dependenciesmac-app-storecmdapp-storebundler
Find and Hire Top DevelopersWeβve analyzed the programming source code of over 60 million software developers on GitHub and scored them by 50,000 skills. Sign-up on Prog,AI to search for software developers.