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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.11

Toward Semantic Foundations for Program Editors

Authors: Cyrus Omar, Ian Voysey, Michael Hilton, Joshua Sunshine, Claire Le Goues, Jonathan Aldrich, and Matthew A. Hammer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 71, 2nd Summit on Advances in Programming Languages (SNAPL 2017)

Abstract

Programming language definitions assign formal meaning to complete programs. Programmers, however, spend a substantial amount of time interacting with incomplete programs - programs with holes, type inconsistencies and binding inconsistencies - using tools like program editors and live programming environments (which interleave editing and evaluation). Semanticists have done comparatively little to formally characterize (1) the static and dynamic semantics of incomplete programs; (2) the actions available to programmers as they edit and inspect incomplete programs; and (3) the behavior of editor services that suggest likely edit actions to the programmer based on semantic information extracted from the incomplete program being edited, and from programs that the system has encountered in the past. This paper serves as a vision statement for a research program that seeks to develop these "missing" semantic foundations. Our hope is that these contributions, which will take the form of a series of simple formal calculi equipped with a tractable metatheory, will guide the design of a variety of current and future interactive programming tools, much as various lambda calculi have guided modern language designs. Our own research will apply these principles in the design of Hazel, an experimental live lab notebook programming environment designed for data science tasks. We plan to co-design the Hazel language with the editor so that we can explore concepts such as edit-time semantic conflict resolution mechanisms and mechanisms that allow library providers to install library-specific editor services.

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Cyrus Omar, Ian Voysey, Michael Hilton, Joshua Sunshine, Claire Le Goues, Jonathan Aldrich, and Matthew A. Hammer. Toward Semantic Foundations for Program Editors. In 2nd Summit on Advances in Programming Languages (SNAPL 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 71, pp. 11:1-11:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{omar_et_al:LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.11,
  author =	{Omar, Cyrus and Voysey, Ian and Hilton, Michael and Sunshine, Joshua and Le Goues, Claire and Aldrich, Jonathan and Hammer, Matthew A.},
  title =	{{Toward Semantic Foundations for Program Editors}},
  booktitle =	{2nd Summit on Advances in Programming Languages (SNAPL 2017)},
  pages =	{11:1--11:12},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-032-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{71},
  editor =	{Lerner, Benjamin S. and Bod{\'\i}k, Rastislav and Krishnamurthi, Shriram},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.11},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-71273},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.11},
  annote =	{Keywords: program editors, type systems, live programming, program prediction}
}

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DOI: 10.4230/DagRep.6.10.1

Programming Language Techniques for Incremental and Reactive Computing (Dagstuhl Seminar 16402)

Authors: Camil Demetrescu, Sebastian Erdweg, Matthew A. Hammer, and Shriram Krishnamurthi

Published in: Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 6, Issue 10 (2017)

Abstract

Incremental computations are those that process input changes faster than naive computation that runs from scratch, and reactive computations consist of interactive behavior that varies over time. Due to the importance and prevalence of incremental, reactive systems, ad hoc variants of incremental and reactive computation are ubiquitous in modern software systems. In response to this reality, the PL research community has worked for several decades to advance new languages for systems that interface with a dynamically-changing environment. In this space, researchers propose new general-purpose languages and algorithms to express and implement efficient, dynamic behavior, in the form of incremental and reactive language systems. While these research lines continue to develop successfully, this work lacks a shared community that synthesizes a collective discussion about common motivations, alternative techniques, current results and future challenges. To overcome this lack of community, this seminar will work towards building one, by strengthening existing research connections and by forging new ones. Developing a shared culture is critical to the future advancement of incremental and reactive computing in modern PL research, and in turn, this PL research is critical to developing the efficient, understandable interactive systems of the future.

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Camil Demetrescu, Sebastian Erdweg, Matthew A. Hammer, and Shriram Krishnamurthi. Programming Language Techniques for Incremental and Reactive Computing (Dagstuhl Seminar 16402). In Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 6, Issue 10, pp. 1-12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@Article{demetrescu_et_al:DagRep.6.10.1,
  author =	{Demetrescu, Camil and Erdweg, Sebastian and Hammer, Matthew A. and Krishnamurthi, Shriram},
  title =	{{Programming Language Techniques for Incremental and Reactive Computing (Dagstuhl Seminar 16402)}},
  pages =	{1--12},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Reports},
  ISSN =	{2192-5283},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{6},
  number =	{10},
  editor =	{Demetrescu, Camil and Erdweg, Sebastian and Hammer, Matthew A. and Krishnamurthi, Shriram},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DagRep.6.10.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-69491},
  doi =		{10.4230/DagRep.6.10.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Incremental computing, reactive programming, memoization, change propagation, dynamic dependency graph, dataflow programming, live programming}
}

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Toward Semantic Foundations for Program Editors

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Programming Language Techniques for Incremental and Reactive Computing (Dagstuhl Seminar 16402)

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