Behdad Esfahbod he/they /behˈ·dɒːd ɛs·fæhˈ·boːd/ ▶

I am Behdad Esfahbod (Persian: بهداد اسفهبد), an Iranian-Canadian software engineering consultant, Free & Open Source Software enthusiast, and author of HarfBuzz—the text-shaping engine used across major operating systems, browsers, and apps. Born and raised in Sari, Mazandaran, Iran, I later lived in Tehran, Toronto, Menlo Park, and Seattle before settling in Edmonton, Canada.

I have worked on internationalization, fonts, and text rendering at FarsiWeb, Red Hat, Google, and Facebook.

Since the late 1990s, my goal has been to make Persian work well in software, especially Free & Open Source Software. In the mid-2000s, that focus broadened to international text rendering more generally.

Beyond software, my interests include food, travel, photography, filmmaking, writing, leathercraft, mental health, psychonautics, polyamory, and alternative ways of living.

Around the web:

∞ Software Projects

• HarfBuzz — the text shaping engine and font platform
• HarfRust — the Rust port of HarfBuzz
• FontTools — a library to manipulate font files from Python

More Open Source projects on my GitHub. For earlier work, see Past Software Projects on the résumé page.

∞ Persian content

• RiRa Persian Digital Library — with Pooya Karimian, source available
• Khaateraat-e Yek Asb — by Yar-Ali PourMoghaddam, produced (by permission)
• The Little Prince — translated to Persian by Ahmad Shamlou (with audio)
• The Little Brother — by Cory Doctorow, Persian translation by [name withheld]
• Behdad's Editor — with open & save functionality
• Behdad's Calendar — multi-system calendar used in Iran
• Persian Computing — community

∞ Collaborators

• Markéta Jakešová — writing & film & partner in crime
• Asal Andarzipour — font design & film
• Mania Akbari — film

∞ Contact

Email: behdad [at] behdad [dot] org