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  • Nov
    8

    CS Distinguished Lecture Series - Benjamin C. Pierce "The Science of Deep Specification, Past and future"

    Department of Computer Science

    12:00 PM

    EVENT DETAILS

    This will be a virtual seminar

    Abstract

    Abstraction and modularity underlie all successful hardware and software systems: We build complex artifacts by decomposing them into parts that can be understood separately. Modular decomposition, in turn, depends crucially on the artful choice of interfaces between the pieces of a system. As they become richer, such interfaces can serve as specifications of system components or layers. Rich specifications, based on formal logic, can significantly reduce the costs of system implementation and evolution by identifying vulnerabilities, helping programmers understand the behavior of new components, facilitating rigorous change-impact analysis, and supporting maintainable, machine-checked proofs that components are internally correct and fit together correctly. We call these deep specifications.

    Deep specifications describe complex component behaviors in detail, they are connected to both implementations and clients; they are written mathematical notations with clear semantics; and they are connected directly to the source code of implementations via machine-checkable proofs or property-based random testing. These requirements impose strong functional correctness conditions on individual components and permit them to be connected together with rigorous composition theorems.

    This talk presents recent achievements and ongoing efforts in the Science of Deep Specification project at Penn, Princeton, Yale, and MIT, whose goal has been to engineer a rich, interconnected collection of deep specifications for critical system software components.

    Biography

    Benjamin Pierce is Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania and a Fellow of the ACM. His research interests include programming languages, type systems, language-based security, computer-assisted formal verification, differential privacy, and synchronization technologies. He is the author of the widely used graduate textbooks Types and Programming Languages and Software Foundations. He has served as co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Functional Programming, as Managing Editor for Logical Methods in Computer Science, and as editorial board member of Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, Formal Aspects of Computing, and ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems. He is the lead designer of the Unison file synchronizer and co-designer of the Clowdr virtual conference platform.

    more

    TIME Monday, November 8, 2021 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

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    CONTACT Pamela Villalovoz    pmv@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science

  • Aug
    20

    Alumni Education Webinar: McCormick School of Engineering's Strategic Vision

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    12:00 PM

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    8

    Welcome & Breakfast for New McCormick PhD Students

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    9:00 AM LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, September 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

    LOCATION LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    12

    New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration

    University Academic Calendar

    All Day

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, September 12, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

  • Sep
    15

    Welcome & Luncheon for New Full-time Graduate Students

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    11:00 AM Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, September 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

    LOCATION Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    16

    Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins

    University Academic Calendar

    All Day

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Tuesday, September 16, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

  • Sep
    25

    Bagel Thursday

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    9:00 AM

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

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    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)