Ciao! Sono

Federico Calò

Sviluppatore Software | Divulgatore Tecnico

Creo applicazioni web moderne e strumenti digitali personalizzati per aiutare le attività a crescere attraverso l'innovazione tecnologica. La mia passione è unire informatica ed economia per generare valore reale.

Contattami

Chi Sono

La mia passione per l'informatica è nata tra i banchi dell'Istituto Tecnico Commerciale di Maglie, dove ho scoperto il potere della programmazione e il fascino di creare soluzioni digitali. Fin da subito, ho capito che l'informatica non era solo codice, ma uno strumento straordinario per trasformare idee in realtà.

Durante gli studi superiori in Sistemi Informativi Aziendali, ho iniziato a intrecciare informatica ed economia, comprendendo come la tecnologia possa essere il motore della crescita per qualsiasi attività. Questa visione mi ha accompagnato all'Università degli Studi di Bari, dove ho conseguito la Laurea in Informatica, approfondendo le mie competenze tecniche e la mia passione per lo sviluppo software.

Oggi metto questa esperienza al servizio di imprese, professionisti e startup, creando soluzioni digitali su misura che automatizzano processi, ottimizzano risorse e aprono nuove opportunità di business. Perché la vera innovazione inizia quando la tecnologia incontra le esigenze reali delle persone.

Le Mie Competenze

Analisi Dati & Modelli Previsionali

Trasformo i dati in insights strategici con analisi approfondite e modelli predittivi per decisioni informate

Automazione Processi

Creo strumenti personalizzati che automatizzano operazioni ripetitive e liberano tempo per attività a valore aggiunto

Sistemi Custom

Sviluppo sistemi software su misura, dalle integrazioni tra piattaforme alle dashboard personalizzate

const federico = {
  nome: "Federico Calò",
  ruolo: "Sviluppatore Software",
  città: "Bari, Italia",
  missione: "Aiutare attraverso l'informatica",
  passioni: [
    "Codice Pulito",
    "Innovazione",
    "Crescita Continua"
  ]
};

La Mia Missione

Credo fermamente che l'informatica sia lo strumento più potente per trasformare le idee in realtà e migliorare la vita delle persone.

🚀

Democratizzare la Tecnologia

La mia missione è rendere l'informatica accessibile a tutti: dalle piccole imprese locali alle startup innovative, fino ai professionisti che vogliono digitalizzare la propria attività. Ogni realtà merita di sfruttare le potenzialità del digitale.

💡

Unire Informatica ed Economia

Non è solo questione di scrivere codice: è capire come la tecnologia possa generare valore reale. Intrecciando competenze informatiche e visione economica, aiuto le attività a crescere, ottimizzare processi e raggiungere nuovi traguardi di efficienza e redditività.

🎯

Creare Soluzioni su Misura

Ogni attività è unica, e così devono esserlo le soluzioni. Sviluppo strumenti personalizzati che rispondono alle esigenze specifiche di ciascun cliente, automatizzando processi ripetitivi e liberando tempo per ciò che conta davvero: far crescere il business.

Trasforma la Tua Attività con la Tecnologia

Dicembre 2024

Visualizza

Master SQL

RoadMap.sh

Novembre 2024

Visualizza

Oracle Certified Foundations Associate

Oracle

Ottobre 2024

Visualizza

People Leadership Credential

Connect

Settembre 2024

💻 Linguaggi & Tecnologie

☕Java

🐍Python

📜JavaScript

🅰️Angular

⚛️React

🔷TypeScript

🗄️SQL

🐘PHP

🎨CSS/SCSS

🔧Node.js

🐳Docker

🌿Git

💼

12/2024 - Presente

Custom Software Engineering Analyst

Accenture

Bari, Puglia, Italia · Ibrida Analisi e sviluppo di sistemi informatici attraverso l'utilizzo di Java e Quarkus in Health and Public Sector. Formazione continua su tecnologie moderne per la creazione di soluzioni software personalizzate ed efficienti e sugli agenti.

💼

06/2022 - 12/2024

Analista software e Back End Developer Associate Consultant

Links Management and Technology SpA

Esperienza nell'analisi di sistemi software as-is e flussi ETL utilizzando PowerCenter. Formazione completata su Spring Boot per lo sviluppo di applicazioni backend moderne e scalabili. Sviluppatore Backend specializzato in Spring Boot, con esperienza in progettazione di database, analisi, sviluppo e testing dei task assegnati.

💼

02/2021 - 10/2021

Programmatore software

Adesso.it (prima era WebScience srl)

Esperienza nell'analisi AS-IS e TO-BE, evoluzioni SEO ed evoluzioni website per migliorare le performance e l'engagement degli utenti.

🎓

2018 - 2025

Laurea in Informatica

Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, focusing on software engineering, algorithms, and modern development practices.

📚

2013 - 2018

Diploma - Sistemi Informativi Aziendali

Istituto Tecnico Commerciale di Maglie

Technical diploma specializing in Business Information Systems, combining IT knowledge with business management.

Contattami

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Open Match and Nakama: Open-Source Game Backend

Building a game backend from scratch is a project that can take years and dozens of engineers. PlayFab, GameSparks, GameLift: managed cloud solutions offer everything ready-made but at a cost that is prohibitive for many indie studios and small companies, with vendor lock-in that makes it difficult to change direction once you have started. There is a third way: open-source frameworks.

Nakama by Heroic Labs and Open Match by Google are two projects that have changed the rules in the sector. Nakama is a complete server for social gaming and real-time multiplayer, processing over 1 trillion requests per month across its community. Open Match is a flexible matchmaking framework used by Google Stadia and numerous AAA studios. Both are Apache 2.0 licensed, written in Go for maximum performance, and designed to run on Kubernetes.

In this article we explore both in depth: internal architecture, Kubernetes deployment, customization with TypeScript/Go, integration between the two, and a complete case study of a multiplayer game built entirely on an open-source stack.

What You Will Learn

Nakama architecture: core features, storage, real-time, social
Nakama custom server logic in TypeScript and Go (runtime hooks)
Deploying Nakama on Kubernetes with CockroachDB and Redis
Open Match architecture: director, matchfunction, evaluator
Custom matchfunction implementation with Glicko-2
Nakama + Open Match integration for a complete system
Comparison with managed solutions: when to choose what
Monitoring and observability of the open-source stack

1. Nakama: The Open-Source Social Gaming Server

Nakama was born in 2017 from Heroic Labs with a clear objective: to give any studio a game server with all the social and multiplayer features that previously required months of custom development. The result is an extremely performant Go server with a declarative API and a runtime hooks system that allows customizing any behavior without modifying the core code.

      Nakama Core Features
      
            Category
            Feature
            Detail
          
            Auth
            Multi-provider auth
            Email, device ID, Apple, Google, Facebook, Steam, custom
          
            Storage
            Object storage
            JSON store per player with granular ACLs (owner/public/friends)
          
            Real-Time
            Relayed multiplayer
            Match relay with server-side authorization, max 64 players/match
          
            Real-Time
            Authoritative matches
            Server-side game loop customizable in Go/TypeScript/Lua
          
            Social
            Friend system
            Add/remove friends, blocklist, presence (online/offline/away)
          
            Social
            Chat
            1-on-1, group, room-based chat with message persistence
          
            Competitive
            Leaderboards
            Global, friends, seasonal with score owner and metadata
          
            Economy
            Wallet
            Multi-currency wallet with atomic transactions

2. Nakama Runtime Hooks: TypeScript Customization

The runtime hooks system is Nakama's most powerful feature. It lets you intercept any server event (authentication, storage writes, custom RPC calls) and add custom logic. Runtimes are supported in Go (maximum performance), TypeScript/JavaScript (via Deno), and Lua (legacy). TypeScript is the recommended choice for new projects.

// runtime/main.ts - Nakama TypeScript runtime entry point
/// <reference types="@heroiclabs/nakama-runtime" />

function InitModule(ctx: nkruntime.Context, logger: nkruntime.Logger,
    nk: nkruntime.Nakama, initializer: nkruntime.Initializer): Error | void {

  logger.info("Game runtime initialized - version 2.1.0");

  // Hook before authentication: custom validation
  initializer.registerBeforeAuthenticateEmail(
    (ctx, logger, nk, request) => {
      const blockedDomains = ['tempmail.com', 'throwaway.email'];
      const domain = request.email?.split('@')[1] ?? '';
      if (blockedDomains.includes(domain)) {
        throw new Error(`Email domain #123;domain} is not allowed`);
      }
      return request;
    }
  );

  // Hook after account creation: initialize wallet
  initializer.registerAfterAuthenticateEmail(
    (ctx, logger, nk, out, request) => {
      if (out.created) {
        try {
          nk.walletUpdate(ctx.userId!, { coins: 500, gems: 10 },
            { reason: "welcome_bonus" }, true);
          logger.info(`Welcome bonus assigned to #123;ctx.userId}`);
        } catch (e) {
          logger.error(`Failed to assign welcome bonus: #123;e}`);
        }
      }
    }
  );

  // Register RPC functions
  initializer.registerRpc('get_player_stats', getPlayerStatsRpc);
  initializer.registerRpc('start_matchmaking', startMatchmakingRpc);
  initializer.registerRpc('purchase_item', purchaseItemRpc);

  // Register match handler
  initializer.registerMatch('game_match', {
    matchInit,
    matchJoinAttempt,
    matchJoin,
    matchLeave,
    matchLoop,
    matchTerminate
  });
}

// RPC: item purchase with wallet check
function purchaseItemRpc(ctx: nkruntime.Context, logger: nkruntime.Logger,
    nk: nkruntime.Nakama, payload: string): string {

  const req = JSON.parse(payload) as { item_id: string; quantity: number };

  const storageObjects = nk.storageRead([{
    collection: 'catalog', key: req.item_id, userId: ''
  }]);

  if (storageObjects.length === 0) {
    throw new Error(`Item #123;req.item_id} not found`);
  }

  const item = JSON.parse(storageObjects[0].value) as { price_coins: number };
  const totalCost = item.price_coins * req.quantity;

  // Atomic transaction: deduct wallet and grant item
  nk.walletUpdate(ctx.userId!, { coins: -totalCost }, {
    reason: `purchase_#123;req.item_id}`,
    quantity: req.quantity
  }, false); // false = error if insufficient balance

  nk.storageWrite([{
    collection: 'inventory',
    key: req.item_id,
    userId: ctx.userId!,
    value: JSON.stringify({ item_id: req.item_id, quantity: req.quantity }),
    permissionRead: 1, permissionWrite: 0
  }]);

  return JSON.stringify({ success: true });
}

3. Authoritative Match: Server-Side Game Loop

Nakama's most powerful feature for competitive multiplayer games is the authoritative match: a game loop running entirely server-side that processes client inputs and computes the authoritative game state. All game logic (damage calculation, movement validation, collision detection) runs on the server, preventing speed hacks and position cheating.

// runtime/match_handler.ts - Authoritative match game loop
interface GameState {
  players: Map<string, PlayerState>;
  phase: 'waiting' | 'playing' | 'ending';
  tick: number;
}

// Game loop: runs at configurable tick rate (e.g., 20 ticks/second)
function matchLoop(ctx: nkruntime.Context, logger: nkruntime.Logger,
    nk: nkruntime.Nakama, dispatcher: nkruntime.MatchDispatcher,
    tick: number, state: GameState,
    messages: nkruntime.MatchMessage[]): GameState | null {

  state.tick = tick;

  for (const message of messages) {
    const userId = message.sender.userId;
    const data = JSON.parse(message.data) as Record<string, number>;

    switch (message.opCode) {
      case 1: // Movement input
        const player = state.players.get(userId);
        if (player?.alive) {
          // Server-side validation: clamp max speed
          const dx = Math.min(Math.abs(data.dx), 5) * Math.sign(data.dx);
          const dy = Math.min(Math.abs(data.dy), 5) * Math.sign(data.dy);
          player.position.x = Math.max(0, Math.min(100, player.position.x + dx));
          player.position.y = Math.max(0, Math.min(100, player.position.y + dy));
        }
        break;

      case 2: // Attack input
        if (state.phase === 'playing') processAttack(state, userId, data);
        break;
    }
  }

  // Check win condition
  const aliveCount = Array.from(state.players.values()).filter(p => p.alive).length;
  if (state.phase === 'playing' && aliveCount <= 1) {
    state.phase = 'ending';
    dispatcher.broadcastMessage(99, JSON.stringify(buildResults(state)), null, null, true);
    return null; // Terminates the match
  }

  // Broadcast state every 3 ticks (67ms at 20tps) to reduce bandwidth
  if (tick % 3 === 0) {
    dispatcher.broadcastMessage(0, JSON.stringify(buildStateSnapshot(state)), null, null, false);
  }

  return state;
}

4. Open Match: Google's Matchmaking Framework

Open Match was developed by Google as a scalable, modular matchmaking system for games with millions of players. Its architecture is based on three separate components communicating through gRPC, allowing you to customize only the part you care about - the matching logic - without rewriting the entire infrastructure.

// Director: matchmaking orchestrator (Go)
func director(ctx context.Context, be ompb.BackendServiceClient) {
  profile := &ompb.MatchProfile{
    Name: "deathmatch-8v8",
    Pools: []*ompb.Pool{
      {
        Name: "all-players",
        DoubleRangeFilters: []*ompb.DoubleRangeFilter{
          { DoubleArg: "mmr", Min: 0, Max: 3000 },
        },
      },
    },
  }

  for {
    stream, err := be.FetchMatches(ctx, &ompb.FetchMatchesRequest{
      Config: &ompb.FunctionConfig{
        Host: "matchfunction", Port: 50502,
        Type: ompb.FunctionConfig_GRPC,
      },
      Profile: profile,
    })
    if err != nil {
      time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
      continue
    }

    for {
      resp, err := stream.Recv()
      if err != nil { break }

      conn, _ := assignGameServer(resp.Match)
      ids := make([]string, len(resp.Match.Tickets))
      for i, t := range resp.Match.Tickets { ids[i] = t.Id }

      be.AssignTickets(ctx, &ompb.AssignTicketsRequest{
        Assignments: []*ompb.AssignmentGroup{{
          TicketIds: ids,
          Assignment: &ompb.Assignment{ Connection: conn },
        }},
      })
    }
    time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
  }
}

// Match Function: Glicko-2 based grouping
func matchFunction(ctx context.Context, req *mmfpb.RunRequest) (
    *mmfpb.RunResponse, error) {

  tickets := req.Pooled_tickets["all-players"]
  var matches []*ompb.Match

  sort.Slice(tickets, func(i, j int) bool {
    return tickets[i].SearchFields.DoubleArgs["mmr"] <
           tickets[j].SearchFields.DoubleArgs["mmr"]
  })

  for i := 0; i+7 < len(tickets); i += 8 {
    group := tickets[i : i+8]
    minMMR := group[0].SearchFields.DoubleArgs["mmr"]
    maxMMR := group[7].SearchFields.DoubleArgs["mmr"]
    if maxMMR-minMMR > 200 { continue }  // MMR spread too high

    matches = append(matches, &ompb.Match{
      MatchId:  fmt.Sprintf("dm8v8-%d", time.Now().UnixNano()),
      Tickets:  group,
    })
  }

  return &mmfpb.RunResponse{Proposals: matches}, nil
}

5. Kubernetes Deployment

Nakama is designed to scale horizontally on Kubernetes. It uses CockroachDB as distributed database (PostgreSQL-compatible) for data consistency across nodes, and Redis for cache and real-time inter-node communication.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nakama
  namespace: game-backend
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nakama
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nakama
        image: heroiclabs/nakama:3.22.0
        ports:
        - containerPort: 7349  # gRPC
        - containerPort: 7350  # HTTP API
        env:
        - name: NAKAMA_DATABASE_ADDRESS
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: nakama-secrets
              key: db-address
        args:
        - "--database.address=$(NAKAMA_DATABASE_ADDRESS)"
        - "--cache.address=redis:6379"
        - "--runtime.path=/nakama/data/modules"
        resources:
          requests: { memory: "512Mi", cpu: "500m" }
          limits:   { memory: "2Gi",   cpu: "2000m" }
---
# HPA: scale from 3 to 20 replicas based on CPU
apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: nakama-hpa
spec:
  scaleTargetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1
    kind: Deployment
    name: nakama
  minReplicas: 3
  maxReplicas: 20
  metrics:
  - type: Resource
    resource:
      name: cpu
      target:
        type: Utilization
        averageUtilization: 70

6. Open-Source vs Managed: When to Choose What

      Detailed Comparison
      
            Criterion
            Open-Source (Nakama)
            Managed (PlayFab)
          
            Cost (1M MAU)
            ~$5,000/month infrastructure
            ~$15,000/month license + infra
          
            Vendor Lock-in
            None (Apache 2.0)
            High (data on Azure/AWS)
          
            Customization
            Total (source available)
            Limited to exposed APIs
          
            Time to Market
            Weeks (setup + learning)
            Days (wizard + templates)
          
            Auto-scaling
            Manual (Kubernetes HPA)
            Automatic and managed
          
            GDPR Compliance
            Full data control
            Depends on provider

Decision Guide

Choose Open-Source if: You have a competent DevOps team, expect over 500K MAU, have strict compliance requirements (GDPR, gaming regulation), or need deep customizations of matching logic or storage.
Choose Managed if: You are a small indie studio, want to prototype quickly, or are in early access without certainty about volumes.
Hybrid strategy: Start with managed to reduce pre-launch risk, migrate to open-source after validating the game and expected volumes.

Conclusions

Nakama and Open Match represent the state of the art in open-source game backends in 2025. Nakama handles the complexity of social features and multiplayer with an elegant API and a runtime hooks system that enables unlimited customizations. Open Match brings scalable, modular matchmaking to the open-source world, with the ability to implement any pairing algorithm.

The key to success with these tools is deep Kubernetes knowledge for deployment and the ability to write robust runtime logic in TypeScript or Go. Invest time in this knowledge: the savings compared to managed solutions are significant, and the architectural freedom you gain is invaluable as the game scales.

Next Steps in the Game Backend Series

Previous: Anti-Cheat Architecture: Server Authority
Next: LiveOps: Event System and Feature Flags
Deep dive: Dedicated Game Servers with GameLift and Agones

Category	Feature	Detail
Auth	Multi-provider auth	Email, device ID, Apple, Google, Facebook, Steam, custom
Storage	Object storage	JSON store per player with granular ACLs (owner/public/friends)
Real-Time	Relayed multiplayer	Match relay with server-side authorization, max 64 players/match
Real-Time	Authoritative matches	Server-side game loop customizable in Go/TypeScript/Lua
Social	Friend system	Add/remove friends, blocklist, presence (online/offline/away)
Social	Chat	1-on-1, group, room-based chat with message persistence
Competitive	Leaderboards	Global, friends, seasonal with score owner and metadata
Economy	Wallet	Multi-currency wallet with atomic transactions

Criterion	Open-Source (Nakama)	Managed (PlayFab)
Cost (1M MAU)	~$5,000/month infrastructure	~$15,000/month license + infra
Vendor Lock-in	None (Apache 2.0)	High (data on Azure/AWS)
Customization	Total (source available)	Limited to exposed APIs
Time to Market	Weeks (setup + learning)	Days (wizard + templates)
Auto-scaling	Manual (Kubernetes HPA)	Automatic and managed
GDPR Compliance	Full data control	Depends on provider