Toni K. Turk
Co-Founder & Head of Marketing, Product Development and Engineering at JT Digital
iOS engineer for 10 years, now full-stack architect. Built 7+ compilers as a passion — from OOP to FP to ownership to bytecode — culminating in a published MSc thesis on a lazy functional language without garbage collection. Authored a novel random graph model (Expanding-Shrinking) that produces real-world network properties from pure merge/split dynamics, and a noise-augmentation technique for robust music identification using CNNs. Now leading engineering, product, and marketing at JT Digital, building type-safe developer tooling and production systems.
Education
MSc Computer Science
2022University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science
BSc Computer Science
2019University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science
Experience
Co-Founder & Head of Marketing, Product Development and Engineering
JT Digital
Leading engineering, product development, and marketing. Building fluent-html, renderbox-engine, and 15+ client applications. Pioneering AI-assisted fullstack development with Claude Code.
iOS Engineer
Povio Labs
Shipped production iOS apps for Facelift, Noble Stay, and AXS VIP. Built PromiseKit — a monadic async library with Haskell-inspired operators, used by 50K daily users.
Technical Skills
Languages
Domains
Theoretical Foundations
Projects
23 projects across compilers, graphics, ML, systems, and tooling
Compilers & Language Engineering
7+ compilers across Java, Swift, C, Zig, Mojo, and TypeScript — from OOP to FP to ownership to bytecode to DSLs
Blang (Bitis)
Lazy functional language with compile-time ownership and borrowing instead of garbage collection
Novel PL contribution: first lazy functional language using ownership/borrowing instead of GC, introducing self-borrows for cyclic data structures (graphs, infinite streams)
Atheris
Complete compiler for a Swift-like OOP language with vtables and polymorphic dispatch
Designed and implemented a complete compiler from scratch for a Swift-like OOP language (~120 Java source files, ~8,000+ lines)
SML-to-Racket
Source-to-source compiler with lambda calculus IR and Church-encoded algebraic datatypes
Dual-target compiler with direct Racket emission and a lambda calculus IR featuring Church-encoded booleans, tuples, and algebraic datatypes
PINS Compiler Course
8 progressive compiler assignments from lexer to interpreter for 100+ university students
Designed a complete 8-assignment compiler course from lexical analysis to a working interpreter (12 to 73 source files incrementally)
clox
Single-pass bytecode compiler and stack-based VM in pure C with Pratt parsing
Complete single-pass bytecode compiler in C -- from source text to executing VM -- with no AST intermediate representation
Mojo Crafting Interpreters
Bytecode VM with mark-and-sweep GC in Mojo using compile-time parametric structs
Complete bytecode VM with mark-and-sweep GC in Mojo -- one of very few public garbage-collected language runtimes in Modular's systems language
Graphics & Simulation
Real-time rendering, ray tracing, physics simulation, and game AI
Monte Carlo Path Tracer + Spline Engine
Physically-based renderer with importance sampling and a functorial spline animation system
Physically-based Monte Carlo path tracer implementing the rendering equation with importance sampling, Russian roulette termination, explicit direct light sampling via solid-angle cone sampling, and three BxDF models (Lambertian, specular with Fresnel, Oren-Nayar rough diffuse)
3D Rendering Engine with Shadow Mapping
Custom OpenGL engine comparing four shadow mapping algorithms with runtime switching
Implemented and compared four shadow mapping algorithms (default, PCF, VSM with Gaussian blur, CSM with per-cascade resolution) in a single engine with runtime switching
Tossing Balls
High school graduation project — 2D physics puzzle game with Box2D integration and data-driven level loading
High school graduation project (age 17) — built a complete 2D physics game engine from scratch in C++ with a custom entity system, polymorphic animation framework, Box2D physics integration, and data-driven level loading from XML
Pac-Man
Arcade-faithful clone with per-ghost personality AI and A* pathfinding
Implemented authentic Pac-Man ghost AI with per-ghost personality targeting algorithms (direct pursuit, 4-tile ambush, vector-doubling flanking, distance-threshold retreat) faithfully matching the original arcade's documented behavior
Machine Learning & Data
Neural networks, 37M-node graph engineering, and numerical computing
Music Classification with Deep Learning
IEEE-format research paper with novel noise-augmentation for robust music identification
Published IEEE-format research paper presenting a novel noise-augmentation technique for robust music identification — training for real-world degradation rather than clean-sample accuracy
Expanding-Shrinking Network Model
A novel random graph model combining growth and shrinkage dynamics to produce networks with real-world properties
Novel ES model: at each step, either merge two random nodes (shrink) or split a random node inheriting all edges (expand) — controlled by a single α parameter
Systems & Production Software
Type-safe frameworks, production libraries, and systems programming
PromiseKit
Production Promise library built from algebraic first principles, shipped to ~50K DAU across multiple iOS apps
Designed and built a production Promise library from algebraic first principles -- map derives from flatMap, reduce from fold, operators match Haskell's typeclass precedence hierarchy
fluent-html
Zero-dependency, type-safe HTML builder for TypeScript with compile-time Tailwind CSS and HTMX safety
Designed a mixin architecture using TypeScript declaration merging + prototype assignment that splits a 1,100-line Tag class into focused modules with zero API changes
Redis Server (Zig)
From-scratch Redis-compatible server in Zig with RESP parsing, RDB persistence, and master-replica replication
Implemented a complete Redis-compatible server from scratch in 915 lines of zero-dependency Zig with RESP protocol parser, key-value store with TTL, and RDB binary format codec
Algorithm Competitions
Two 1st places and one 2nd/3rd place across three timed MSc algorithm competitions
1st place — Progressive Chess: A* converted to greedy best-first (g=0), Zobrist hashing with incremental XOR, composable per-piece heuristic dispatch, pawn promotion pruning
SAT Solver
Boolean satisfiability framework reducing NP-complete problems to SAT via a generic Expression<T> free algebra
Designed Expression<T> as a generic, functor-equipped recursive data type -- the free Boolean algebra pattern later reused in renderbox-engine's FilterNode AST
Developer Tooling
CLI parsers, linting tools, and code generators