Call for Participation: 2nd JML Spec-a-thon: JML^2, 18-20 November 2009, Dublin, Ireland

[Joseph Kiniry]

                  Call for Participation
                2nd JML Spec-a-thon: JML^2
                   18-20 November 2009
                University College Dublin
                     Dublin, Ireland

What, you may ask, is a JML Spec-a-thon? It's a gathering of JML

researchers and users for intense collaboration on JML

development. This is the second of what we expect to be a series of

approximately semi-annual events.  It is a continuation of the

inaugural Spec-a-thon held on 26-28 May 2009 at the University of

Washington Tacoma, and is similar in spirit to the JML Winter School

that was held in 2008, but is longer, more intense, and geared more

toward output production and goal setting than toward education. As

part of this Spec-a-thon, there will also be a "keynote"-like talk

open to to the public at UCD.

The main focus for all Spec-a-thons is on writing good, usable

specifications for many of the modern Java core classes that presently

lack them.  In OpenJML, we finally have a JML compiler that can take

full advantage of generics and the other new language features

introduced over the last several years, but the vast majority of

available specs are still for Java 1.4 classes, lacking both generics

and new APIs.  Addressing this situation will help make JML more

attractive to developers and more suitable for use in coursework.

The last Spec-a-thon had several super-short talks given by

participants in the morning on their current work, available tools,

techniques in specification writing, and more.  The balance of the

day, and often into the night, participants worked as individuals and

in small groups on new tools, specifications, and documentation, gave

tutorials to each other, and more.  For some participants, some of

each day also focused on "pair specification writing," which is

basically a wacky combination of an OpenBSD Hackathon and formal

methods "extreme programming".

A secondary focus of Spec-a-thons is on setting community-wide goals

for the coming year in JML-related tool development and research.  The

second half of 2009 has been a great time for JML, with the Inaugural

Spec-a-thon in late May and the Dagstuhl seminar in July. Continued

face-to-face coordination of the goals of the JML community can only

be helpful.

The Inaugural and Second JML Spec-a-thons are supported by a Formal

Methods Europe (FME) Small Projects grant, as well as local research

grants at University College Dublin.  There is also an opportunity for

students and researchers involved with COST Action IC0701 "Formal

Verification of Object-Oriented Software" to participate using COST

funds.  Participants in this latter category will be obligated to

attend a full week of Spec-a-thon activities due to funding agency

restrictions, I.e., we will actually be starting Spec-a-thon

activities on Monday, 16 November.

While this level of support is not sufficient for us to cover meals

and lodging for the event for all participants (a block of rooms will

be available nearby, details forthcoming, and there are enough

excellent eateries on and around campus that we won't lack for

interesting food), it is enough for us to provide small travel

subsidies to several attendees, as we did for the inaugural

Spec-a-thon. This is designed primarily to allow interested graduate

students, and those who otherwise might not be able to travel to the

Dublin area, to attend.

We expect to be able to provide travel subsidies to students and

others in need. We will be posting detailed information about the

event on the JML Spec-a-thons site,

<http://formalmethods.insttech.washington.edu/specathons/>, shortly.

Email jmlspecs-specathon@... for more information

about travel subsidies and registration; we hope to see you there!

Participants in the inaugural Spec-a-thon are encouraged to pipe up

with their quick reflections on the event.

-Dan Zimmerman and Joe Kiniry
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[Gary T. Leavens-2]

Hi,

I participated in the first Spec-a-thon, and it was a great time to  
really spend working on JML documentation, specifications, and tools  
with like-minded folks.  And there were enormous amounts of junk food  
available, which made it very conducive to good hacking!  Lots of fun.

On Oct 14, 2009, at 4:55 AM, Joseph Kiniry wrote:

>                   Call for Participation
>                 2nd JML Spec-a-thon: JML^2
>                    18-20 November 2009
>                 University College Dublin
>                      Dublin, Ireland
>
> What, you may ask, is a JML Spec-a-thon? It's a gathering of JML
> researchers and users for intense collaboration on JML
> development. This is the second of what we expect to be a series of
> approximately semi-annual events.  It is a continuation of the
> inaugural Spec-a-thon held on 26-28 May 2009 at the University of
> Washington Tacoma, and is similar in spirit to the JML Winter School
> that was held in 2008, but is longer, more intense, and geared more
> toward output production and goal setting than toward education. As
> part of this Spec-a-thon, there will also be a "keynote"-like talk
> open to to the public at UCD.
>
> The main focus for all Spec-a-thons is on writing good, usable
> specifications for many of the modern Java core classes that presently
> lack them.  In OpenJML, we finally have a JML compiler that can take
> full advantage of generics and the other new language features
> introduced over the last several years, but the vast majority of
> available specs are still for Java 1.4 classes, lacking both generics
> and new APIs.  Addressing this situation will help make JML more
> attractive to developers and more suitable for use in coursework.
>
> The last Spec-a-thon had several super-short talks given by
> participants in the morning on their current work, available tools,
> techniques in specification writing, and more.  The balance of the
> day, and often into the night, participants worked as individuals and
> in small groups on new tools, specifications, and documentation, gave
> tutorials to each other, and more.  For some participants, some of
> each day also focused on "pair specification writing," which is
> basically a wacky combination of an OpenBSD Hackathon and formal
> methods "extreme programming".
>
> A secondary focus of Spec-a-thons is on setting community-wide goals
> for the coming year in JML-related tool development and research.  The
> second half of 2009 has been a great time for JML, with the Inaugural
> Spec-a-thon in late May and the Dagstuhl seminar in July. Continued
> face-to-face coordination of the goals of the JML community can only
> be helpful.
>
> The Inaugural and Second JML Spec-a-thons are supported by a Formal
> Methods Europe (FME) Small Projects grant, as well as local research
> grants at University College Dublin.  There is also an opportunity for
> students and researchers involved with COST Action IC0701 "Formal
> Verification of Object-Oriented Software" to participate using COST
> funds.  Participants in this latter category will be obligated to
> attend a full week of Spec-a-thon activities due to funding agency
> restrictions, I.e., we will actually be starting Spec-a-thon
> activities on Monday, 16 November.
>
> While this level of support is not sufficient for us to cover meals
> and lodging for the event for all participants (a block of rooms will
> be available nearby, details forthcoming, and there are enough
> excellent eateries on and around campus that we won't lack for
> interesting food), it is enough for us to provide small travel
> subsidies to several attendees, as we did for the inaugural
> Spec-a-thon. This is designed primarily to allow interested graduate
> students, and those who otherwise might not be able to travel to the
> Dublin area, to attend.
>
> We expect to be able to provide travel subsidies to students and
> others in need. We will be posting detailed information about the
> event on the JML Spec-a-thons site,
> <http://formalmethods.insttech.washington.edu/specathons/>, shortly.
> Email jmlspecs-specathon@... for more information
> about travel subsidies and registration; we hope to see you there!
>
> Participants in the inaugural Spec-a-thon are encouraged to pipe up
> with their quick reflections on the event.
>
> -Dan Zimmerman and Joe Kiniry
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Come build with us! The BlackBerry(R) Developer Conference in SF, CA
> is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart  
> your
> developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and  
> stay
> ahead of the curve. Join us from November 9 - 12, 2009. Register now!
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/devconference_______________________________________________
> Jmlspecs-interest mailing list
> Jmlspecs-interest@...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jmlspecs-interest

        Gary T. Leavens
        439C Harris Center (Bldg. 116)
        School of EECS, University of Central Florida
        4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816-2362 USA
        http://www.eecs.ucf.edu/~leavens  phone: [phone]
        leavens@...


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Come build with us! The BlackBerry(R) Developer Conference in SF, CA
is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart your
developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and stay
ahead of the curve. Join us from November 9 - 12, 2009. Register now!
http://p.sf.net/sfu/devconference
_______________________________________________
Jmlspecs-interest mailing list
Jmlspecs-interest@...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jmlspecs-interest