Collaborative Research: CSR: Core: Medium: Scaling Unix/Linux Shell Programs

外壳是将现代计算机系统粘合在一起的粘合剂：它是连接组件和管理系统的编程语言；它是编写科学工作流程和数据分析的快捷语言；它是让熟练用户直接访问计算机内部工作的控制舱口。外壳编程仍然无处不在--稳定地出现在前十大最受欢迎的编程语言中--部分原因是它允许非专业开发人员将任何编程语言中可用的组件结合在一起，而他们对组件的内部结构几乎不了解。不幸的是，这种与语言无关的黑盒结构阻碍了外壳程序的自动加速。这个项目将开发加速外壳程序的技术，而不需要外壳程序员的输入，也不需要单个组件的作者几乎不输入任何东西。这项工作的方法(1)建立在PIS先前研究的现实世界成功的基础上(这需要更多的用户投入)，(2)汇集了计算机科学的几个子领域的专业知识--并行和分布式系统、编程语言和正式方法--以及(3)提供协同作用。每种技术都提供了显著的好处，但产生了一个变革性的整体。通过实现对现实世界中普遍使用的编程语言的实用、按键增强，拟议的工作承诺显著加速现有和新的外壳程序，而不需要开发人员做出任何努力，不需要对现有基础设施进行任何更改，同时保持与先前结果的兼容性。壳牌的无处不在意味着这些加速将产生广泛的影响，特别是在使用计算作为工具来解决各自领域的问题的学科中，例如生物信息学、数据科学和经济学。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The ‘shell’ is the glue that holds modern computer systems together: It is the programming language that connects components and manages systems; it is the quick-and-dirty language for writing scientific workflows and data analysis; it is the control hatch that offers skilled users direct access to their computer's inner-workings. Shell programming remains ubiquitous —steadily in the top 10 most popular programming languages— partly because it allows non-expert developers to combine components available in any programming language with little-to-no understanding of their internals. Unfortunately, this black-box, language-agnostic composition hinders automated acceleration of shell programs. This project will develop techniques to accelerate shell programs without requiring input from shell programmers and little-to-no input from the authors of individual components. This work's approach (1) builds on the real-world success of prior research by the PIs (that requires more user input), (2) brings together expertise in several subfields of computer science —parallel and distributed systems, programming languages, and formal methods— and (3) offers synergy. The individual techniques each offer significant benefits, but yield a transformative whole.By enabling practical, push-button enhancement of a real-world, pervasively-used programming language, the proposed work promises to significantly accelerate existing and new shell programs without any effort from their developers, without any changes to existing infrastructure, and while maintaining compatibility with prior results. The shell's ubiquity means these speedups will have broad impact, especially in disciplines that use computing as a tool to solve problems in their respective fields, e.g., bioinformatics, data science, and economics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.