Author Archives: crista

Virtual Conferences

Posted on March 14, 2020 by crista

Due to the COVID situation, I have, in the past 2 weeks, been approached by several people whose conferences are being cancelled asking me for advice on how to organize a virtual conference. For the past 7 years, I have … Continue reading →

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How Many Trees Will Redeem My Lifetime Miles?

Posted on September 1, 2019 by crista

I have a very conflicted relationship with airplane travel. On the one hand, my lifestyle — both personal and professional — depends on it and, in particular, on long-distance flights. On the other, I hate that airplanes are so damn … Continue reading →

Posted in life, simulation | Comments Off on How Many Trees Will Redeem My Lifetime Miles?

Programming Journal: Call for Essays

Posted on February 10, 2018 by crista

The Art, Science, and Engineering of Programming journal is teaming up with the Onward! conference regarding essays. In this year’s Onward! Essays’ Instructions for Authors, authors are given the choice of publication venue. They can either do it as before — i.e. … Continue reading →

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To Big Or Not To Big

Posted on June 3, 2017 by crista

Big data is everywhere. Not surprisingly, it has come to our neck of the woods, too: research in software engineering, programming languages, and computer science in general. I’ve done a fair amount of work with it, and I suspect that … Continue reading →

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Walk the Talk

Posted on January 8, 2017 by crista

This post is primarily targeted at the Computer Science research communities that surround the ACM and the IEEE, but it applies to all tech communities that gravitate around conferences. I believe that an overwhelming majority of people in these communities is concerned … Continue reading →

Posted in computer scientists, conferences | 10 Comments

Divide by Zero! and Other Propaganda

Posted on December 15, 2016 by crista

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this incredible moment in history. In trying to wrap my head around it, I’m turning to what I know best: programs, programming, and software-intensive systems. And their flaws. This is a mini-essay … Continue reading →

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Laws of Performant Software

Posted on September 19, 2016 by crista

Learning how to write performant code is hard. Here are a few simple laws that I hope will convey the core of the matter. I’m calling them…

Posted in advice, engineering, research | Tagged | 17 Comments

The Art, Science, and Engineering of Programming

Posted on September 10, 2016 by crista

I’ve been relatively low key about something that I’m very excited about, so, after several months of planning, and a first, somewhat quiet, submission deadline, it’s time to release my enthusiasm. A group of us have started a new conference called <Programming>  … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, conferences, publications, research | 3 Comments

Automation

Posted on August 27, 2016 by crista

As a computer scientist specializing in programming, the social consequences of software-for-business-efficiency are worrying me more and more. Here at home, we’ve been having a conversation about what post-capitalism would look like in the face of quasi-universal automation, in the best … Continue reading →

Posted in commentary, fiction, life, social software systems | 3 Comments

Constraints

Posted on June 3, 2016 by crista

This post comes from an email conversation going on related to programming languages vs. libraries. The story goes that these days, the major productivity gains come not from new languages but from the existence of libraries that already do almost … Continue reading →

Posted in research | 10 Comments