# Surma

> Surma (known online as @DasSurma) is a Principal Software Engineer at Shopify focused on developer experience and monorepo architecture. A former Google Chrome Team Web Advocate, he is best known for making WebAssembly and Web Workers approachable through open-source tools like Comlink (12k+ GitHub stars), Squoosh, and PROXX. He co-hosts the 'Off The Main Thread' podcast with Jake Archibald and publishes deep technical articles at surma.dev. Based in Bristol, UK, Surma has spent his career removing the friction between developers and the harder parts of the web platform.

- **Role:** Principal Software Engineer at Shopify
- **Organizations:** Shopify, Google (former), GoogleChromeLabs (former)
- **Nationality:** German (based in Bristol, UK)
- **Known for:** Created Comlink - Web Worker RPC library with 12,600+ GitHub stars, Co-created Squoosh - browser-based WebAssembly image compression tool used by millions, Co-created PROXX - 100KB gzipped accessible minesweeper game using WebGL and Web Workers

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Joined Twitter/X as @DasSurma
- **2016** — Presented at Chrome Dev Summit; co-hosted Supercharged YouTube series with Paul Lewis
- **2017** — Presented 'WordPress and Progressive Web Apps' at Chrome Dev Summit 2017
- **2018** — Released Comlink - a tiny RPC library to make Web Workers enjoyable
- **2019** — Launched Squoosh image compression PWA and PROXX minesweeper game with Google Chrome Labs; did Hashnode AMA as Google Web Advocate
- **2021** — Published 'Is WebAssembly magic performance pixie dust?' - highly cited Wasm performance analysis
- **2022** — Published 'WebGPU - All of the cores, none of the canvas' deep-dive
- **2023** — Co-launched 'Off The Main Thread' podcast with Jake Archibald (November 2023), sponsored by Shopify
- **2024** — Published video series 'Nix explained from the ground up'; continued at Shopify as Principal Software Engineer - DX & monorepo
- **2025** — Published 'LangGraph for complex workflows' article; continued podcasting and technical writing at surma.dev

## Achievements

- Created Comlink - Web Worker RPC library with 12,600+ GitHub stars
- Co-created Squoosh - browser-based WebAssembly image compression tool used by millions
- Co-created PROXX - 100KB gzipped accessible minesweeper game using WebGL and Web Workers
- Co-hosted HTTP 203 podcast with Jake Archibald on Google Chrome Developers channel
- Co-hosts 'Off The Main Thread' podcast covering cutting-edge web platform topics
- Published influential series on compiling C, Rust, and raw code to WebAssembly
- 38,000+ Twitter/X followers as @DasSurma
- 4,600+ GitHub followers
- Regular speaker at Chrome Dev Summit and web development conferences
- Principal Software Engineer at Shopify leading DX and monorepo architecture

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Published 'LangGraph for complex workflows' - exploring AI/LLM automation patterns
- **2025-06** — Published 'What is Nix?' article on surma.dev
- **2024-09** — Released 'Nix explained from the ground up' video series
- **2024-01** — Continuing as Principal Software Engineer at Shopify - DX & monorepo
- **2023-11** — Launched 'Off The Main Thread' podcast with Jake Archibald

## Links

- Website: https://surma.dev/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dassurma/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/dassurma
- GitHub: https://github.com/surma
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dassurma/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/surma
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-20