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The annual ACM  Symposium on  Principles of Programming  Languages is  the
major conference in that field. The conference deals with both theoretical
and practical issues  in programming language  design and  implementation.
The Deduction Workshop is an adjunct of that conference, drawing the  same
group of participants, but dealing with some more theoretical issues.

Many of the theoretical issues of a few years ago have become sufficiently
well understood that  they are now  considered "practical".  For  example,
concepts  of  program  correctness  and  verification  which  used  to  be
considered research  topics  have settled  into  respectability,  spawning
their own orgranization--the conferences on Software Reliability.

One of the current research areas investigates the automatic  construction
of programs --called "program synthesis".  Program synthesis systems  will
probably prove to be even more important than the work on verification. It
is important for the company in  general and myself in particular to  keep
abreast of  this  area.   For  example, one  of  the  spin-offs  from  the
verification work was an improved awareness of the necessity to  structure
programs. That  is,  to  proceed systematically  in  the  construction  of
programs, rather than  simply "start  writing code".   That awareness  was
reinforced by  the theoretical  constraint of  the proof  tecniques  which
verification systems use. One simply cannot expect to verify a hodge-podge
program. These  observations  have become  consolidated  into  programming
"philosophies" called programming methodology.  Because of this  research,
university  programming   courses   include   strong   emphasis   on   the
methodological aspects of programming.

In similar ways the research in  program synthesis is beginning to  affect
the real world of programming. Several universities now teach  programming
based on systematic methods derived from the research ideas in programming
systhesis.

One of the functions of product engineering is to develop and espouse good
programming  techniques.   Therefore  I  feel  that  this  aspect  of  the
Programming Languages Conference (POPL) and  the topics of the  associated
Deduction Workshop is well within the scope of my duties.

The more practical papers of POPL are  of direct relevance to our work  on
programming language design and  implementation. In general, the  "design"
issues involve questions of the "meaning" of language constructs; this  is
the weakest area in the languages  under consideration for the LCDS.   The
semantic issues  on MODULA  are in  dreadful state;  I am  sure that  POPL
participants will be able to give aid in this area.

The "implementation" issues  addressed by  the POPL  papers cover  several
aspects of optimization of compiled  code, the choice of data  structures,
or even the methods used in  translation programs. These are issues  which
we must understand.

The  above  should  be  a  convincing  argument  that  the  conference  is
worthwhile.  I fell that is is equally important that I attend rather than
wait for proceeding to appear.  Within any formal conference framework  is
an  informal   "underground"   discussion  among   participants,   passing
information, rumors, conjectures, and informal papers. It is important  to
stay active in  this underground if  we expect to  keep up.  For  example,
above I alluded to my expectation that  I would be able to get  additional
information on a programming language called MODULA even though no  papers
directly refer to this  topic. So far, the  best information we have  been
able to receive is that which I  have discovered using my contacts on  the
ARPAnet.  I  maintain a  guest account  at Stanford  AI, and  was able  to
"talk" to someone at York University in England about a dialect of  MODULA
which we would like to obtain. It is guaranteed (by the author of  MODULA)
that the information  which we wish  will NEVER be  published; however  it
will be available  informally to those  in the underground.  I expect  the
same kind of phenomenon to be active at the Texas conferences.

It is important to me to stay  active if I am to maintain my  professional
standing.  Much of the  information which I brought  with me to  Signetics
was collected through my personal contacts within the community.  Most  of
that information  has never  been published;  in particular,  most of  the
information which I have made available to for the LCDS is of this nature.
The field  is changing  rapidly;  therefore what  I  know now  is  rapidly
becoming dated. I must keep my sources current.

It is important for Signetics to become more visible in this community  if
we are to attract top notch talent. We must be able to attract people from
the university community.  The  only way to do  that is to have  Signetics
personnel visible at such conferences.