UCLA Computer Science Professor and Department Chair Todd Millstein recently delivered a keynote address at SPLASH 2024, the ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Systems, Programming, Languages, and Applications: Software for Humanity. Recognized as one of the premier academic conferences in software systems, SPLASH brings together researchers and practitioners to explore advancements and innovations in programming languages, systems, and related technologies.
Millstein’s keynote, titled “Everything is a Program (even if it’s not),” addressed how core principles from the programming languages research community can be applied broadly across different domains. He discussed how, by viewing complex systems as “programs,” researchers can harness programming language techniques to solve interdisciplinary challenges. Drawing from his extensive work in a collaborative project aimed at enhancing Internet reliability, Millstein highlighted the role of precise, automated reasoning methods in addressing systemic issues on a global scale. A notable result from this project is Batfish, an open-source network configuration analysis tool that supports network engineers in testing and validating their configurations for security and reliability. Now managed by Amazon Web Services, Batfish is widely used by top technology companies to protect and maintain their networks.
Millstein’s talk demonstrates the far-reaching impact of programming language research, showing how concepts from the field can contribute significantly to real-world challenges. His full keynote presentation is available for viewing on YouTube. More details about SPLASH 2024 can be found on the conference homepage, and information on Batfish is available on its official website.