The Way We Were: Structural Operational Semantics Research in Perspective
The Way We Were: Structural Operational Semantics Research in Perspective
复制标题
DOI：
10.4204/eptcs.387.3
复制
发表时间：
2023-09
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
L. Aceto;Pierluigi Crescenzi;A. Ingólfsdóttir;M. Mousavi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
L. Aceto;Pierluigi Crescenzi;A. Ingólfsdóttir;M. Mousavi
本文对结构操作语义（SOS）的（Meta）理论提出了以下两个问题：（1）SOS的（Meta）理论作为一个研究领域正在消亡吗？(2)如果是的话，是否有可能以重新定义的目的振兴这一领域？在本文中，我们将考虑这些问题的可能答案，首先分析EXPRESS/SOS研讨会的历史和有关作者的数据，以及这些研讨会版本中的演示文稿及其主题。我们的定量和定性分析结果都表明，人们对SOS理论作为一个研究领域的兴趣正在减弱。尽管“天下无不散之筵席”，但我们力求以乐观的态度处理我们的第二个激励问题，从而以乐观的语气完成这份立场文件。为此，我们使用我们的个人思考和分析最近的趋势，在两个旗舰会议在编程语言领域（即POPL和PDLI）得出一些结论，未来可能的方向，可能振兴研究（Meta）理论的SOS。我们希望我们的思考将吸引研究社区的成员为这一对本文的三位作者都很友好的研究领域注入新的活力。
This position paper on the (meta-)theory of Structural Operational Semantic (SOS) is motivated by the following two questions: (1) Is the (meta-)theory of SOS dying out as a research field? (2) If so, is it possible to rejuvenate this field with a redefined purpose? In this article, we will consider possible answers to those questions by first analysing the history of the EXPRESS/SOS workshops and the data concerning the authors and the presentations featured in the editions of those workshops as well as their subject matters. The results of our quantitative and qualitative analyses all indicate a diminishing interest in the theory of SOS as a field of research. Even though `all good things must come to an end', we strive to finish this position paper on an upbeat note by addressing our second motivating question with some optimism. To this end, we use our personal reflections and an analysis of recent trends in two of the flagship conferences in the field of Programming Languages (namely POPL and PDLI) to draw some conclusions on possible future directions that may rejuvenate research on the (meta-)theory of SOS. We hope that our musings will entice members of the research community to breathe new life into a field of research that has been kind to three of the authors of this article.