Check out this year’s essays and papers.

Onward! is a premier multidisciplinary conference focused on everything to do with programming and software: including processes, methods, languages, communities and applications. Onward! is more radical, more visionary and more open than other conferences to ideas that are well-argued but not yet proven. We welcome different ways of thinking about, approaching and reporting on programming language and software engineering research.

The Character of Onward! Papers

Onward! Papers is looking for grand visions and new paradigms that could make a big difference in how we will one day build software. But it is not looking for research-as-usual papers—conferences like OOPSLA are the place for that. Those conferences require rigorous validation such as theorems or empirical experiments, which are necessary for scientific progress, but which typically preclude discussion of early-stage ideas. Onward! papers must also supply some degree of validation because mere speculation is not a good basis for progress. However, Onward! accepts less rigorous methods of validation such as compelling arguments, exploratory implementations, and substantial examples. The use of worked-out examples to support new ideas is strongly encouraged.

Dates
Plenary

This program is tentative and subject to change.

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Wed 23 Oct

Displayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change

10:10 - 10:40
Coffee BreakCatering at Foyer
10:10
30m
Coffee break
Break
Catering

10:40 - 12:20
Onward! PapersOnward! Papers at Pacific
10:40
15m
Talk
Onward! introduction
Onward! Papers
C: Jonathan Edwards Independent, C: Marcel Taeumel University of Potsdam; Hasso Plattner Institute
10:55
25m
Talk
Moldable Exceptions
Onward! Papers
Andrei Chiş feenk.com, Tudor Gîrba feenk.com, Oscar Nierstrasz feenk.com
Pre-print
11:25
25m
Talk
Reclaiming the Unexplored in Hybrid Visual Programming
Onward! Papers
Michael Homer Victoria University of Wellington
11:55
25m
Talk
Beyond Procedure Calls as Component Glue: Connectors Deserve Metaclass Status
Onward! Papers
Marcel Weiher Hasso Plattner Institute, University of Potsdam, Germany, Marcel Taeumel University of Potsdam; Hasso Plattner Institute, Robert Hirschfeld Hasso Plattner Institute; University of Potsdam
Pre-print
12:20 - 13:40
12:20
80m
Lunch
Lunch
Catering

15:20 - 16:00
Coffee BreakCatering at Foyer
15:20
40m
Coffee break
Break
Catering

16:00 - 17:00
Onward! PapersOnward! Papers at Pacific

Please stay seated – an Onward! essay session will follow immediately: https://2024.splashcon.org/track/splash-2024-Onward-Essays

16:00
25m
Talk
A Programing Language for Data and Configuration!
Onward! Papers
Mark Marron University of Kentucky
16:30
25m
Talk
The Meerkat Vision: Language Support for Live, Scalable, Reactive Web Apps
Onward! Papers
João Costa Seco NOVA-LINCS; Nova University of Lisbon, Jonathan Aldrich Carnegie Mellon University
17:40 - 19:40
Reception and Poster sessionCatering at California
17:40
2h
Dinner
Dinner
Catering

Thu 24 Oct

Displayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change

15:20 - 16:00
Coffee BreakCatering at Foyer
15:20
40m
Coffee break
Break
Catering

16:00 - 17:40
Onward! PapersOnward! Papers at Pacific
16:00
25m
Talk
Abstract Debuggers: Exploring Program Behaviors Using Static Analysis Results
Onward! Papers
Karoliine Holter University of Tartu, Estonia, Juhan Oskar Hennoste University of Tartu, Patrick Lam University of Waterloo, Simmo Saan University of Tartu, Estonia, Vesal Vojdani University of Tartu
16:30
25m
Talk
Scimitar: Functional Programs as Optimization Problems
Onward! Papers
Nate Bragg Tufts University, Jeffrey S. Foster Tufts University, Philip Zucker Draper
17:00
25m
Talk
Software Engineering Methods For AI-Driven Deductive Legal Reasoning
Onward! Papers
Rohan Padhye Carnegie Mellon University
Pre-print

Fri 25 Oct

Displayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change

12:20 - 13:50
Lunch and AwardsCatering at California
12:20
90m
Lunch
Awards Lunch
Catering

13:50 - 15:30
Onward! PapersOnward! Papers at Pacific
13:50
25m
Talk
Talking to Objects in Natural Language: Toward Semantic Tools for Exploratory ProgrammingRemote
Onward! Papers
Christoph Thiede Hasso Plattner Institute, University of Potsdam, Germany, Marcel Taeumel University of Potsdam; Hasso Plattner Institute, Lukas Böhme Hasso Plattner Institute, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, Robert Hirschfeld Hasso Plattner Institute; University of Potsdam
14:25
25m
Talk
Active DSU: Dynamic Software Updates for Active Functions
Onward! Papers
Filip Strömbäck Linköping University, Daniel Varro Linköping University / McGill University
15:00
25m
Talk
Source-level debugging of compiler-optimised code: ill-posed, but not impossible
Onward! Papers
Stephen Kell King's College London, J. Ryan Stinnett King's College London
15:30 - 16:00
Coffee BreakCatering at Foyer
15:30
30m
Coffee break
Break
Catering

Call for Papers

Onward! is a premier multidisciplinary conference focused on everything to do with programming and software: including processes, methods, languages, communities and applications. Onward! is more radical, more visionary and more open than other conferences to ideas that are well-argued but not yet proven. We welcome different ways of thinking about, approaching and reporting on programming language and software engineering research.

The Character of Onward! Papers

Onward! Papers is looking for grand visions and new paradigms that could make a big difference in how we will one day build software. But it is not looking for research-as-usual papers—conferences like OOPSLA are the place for that. Those conferences require rigorous validation such as theorems or empirical experiments, which are necessary for scientific progress, but which typically preclude discussion of early-stage ideas. Onward! papers must also supply some degree of validation because mere speculation is not a good basis for progress. However, Onward! accepts less rigorous methods of validation such as compelling arguments, exploratory implementations, and substantial examples. The use of worked-out examples to support new ideas is strongly encouraged.

Selection Process

Onward! papers are peer-reviewed in a double blind manner. Accepted papers will appear in the Onward! Proceedings in the ACM Digital Library. Submissions will be judged on the potential impact of the ideas and the quality of the presentation.

Onward! Papers follows a two-phase review process. This enables us to welcome papers that contain promising ideas and have the potential to meet the conference’s standards, but which may fall short of this in the initial submission. At the end of the first phase, all papers will be either: accepted normally; or asked to perform certain required revisions; or rejected outright. The authors of papers asked to perform revisions will get one month to complete the revisions, at which point the original reviewers decide on the final acceptance of the paper. All papers will thus remain under submission until the authors receive notification of acceptance or rejection.

We expect the typical strong submission to be accepted normally, with authors expected—as is conventional—to revise the paper using the program committee’s feedback.

The program committee may identify certain papers with promising ideas as needing important revisions. These papers will be handled in one of two ways. They may be assigned a shepherd, in the tradition followed by numerous conferences. Otherwise, they will be given a concrete set of goals to accomplish in the revision. In the latter case, the second submission must then be accompanied by a cover letter mapping the revision requests to specific parts of the paper; the program committee will use the cover letter and revised submission to arrive at a final decision.

The second phase will only be used to elevate promising papers to the conference’s standard, not to require additional work of papers already deemed up-to-standard.

Instructions for Authors

For fairness reasons, all submitted papers should conform to the formatting instructions (see below). Submissions that violate these instructions may be rejected without review, at the discretion of the Program Chair.

Authors of accepted papers are strongly encouraged to present their work in person at the conference but that is not required. There will be a remote participation option, the details of which are to be decided.

Submission Site

https://onward2024papers.hotcrp.com/

Concurrent Submissions

Papers must describe unpublished work that is not currently submitted for publication elsewhere as described by SIGPLAN’s Republication Policy. Submitters should also be aware of ACM’s Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism.

Policy on Double Blind Review

Onward! 2023 is using a double-blind submission process. This means that authors will not know who reviewed their papers, and reviewers will not know who authored the papers they review. The aim of double-blind is to treat all papers with minimal bias. Authors must take the following actions to prepare their papers for double-blind reviewing:

  • Remove identifying information (names, institutions, etc) from the author block of the first page of the paper.
  • To the extent possible, when authors cite their own work, they should refer to it in the third person.
  • To the extent possible, authors should remove any other potentially identifying information, such as acknowledgements.

After submitting their review, reviewers will be able to see author identities. When the paper is accepted for publication, the camera-ready copy must not be blinded.

See OOPSLA’s FAQ on double-blind reviewing for more information. Please contact the PC chair if you have any questions.

Policy on Authorship Changes

Any addition of authors after initial submission of a paper must be cleared with the PC chair. Authors are very strongly advised to list all authors prior to initial submission as the addition of authors may create new conflicts with the PC. In all cases, the PC chair must be provided with a rationale. The PC chair has the authority to reject any requested change.

Format

Submissions should use ACM SIGPLAN Conference acmart Format, sigplan sub-format and 10 point font. All submissions should be in PDF format.

If you are formatting your paper using LaTeX, you will need to use the sigplan, anonymous and review options. Note that by default the SIGPLAN template produces two-column, 9 point papers, but you will need to you will need to set the 10pt option in the \documentclass command. If you are formatting your paper using Word, you may wish to use the provided Word template that supports this font size. Please include page numbers in your submission. Setting the review option in the LaTeX \documentclass command generates page numbers, and the anonymous option hides author names. Please also ensure that your submission is legible when printed on a black and white printer. In particular, please check that colors remain distinct and font sizes are legible.

Page Limit

To ensure that papers stay focused on their core contributions, the main part of the paper (excluding bibliographic references) should be no longer than 13 pages. There is no page limit for bibliographic references and appendices, and, therefore, for the overall submission. However, reviewers are not obligated to read the appendices, so the main part of the paper should be self contained. If the paper is accepted, the final submission will be limited to 17 pages. (The 13-page limit for the main body of the paper no longer applies.)

Publication (Digital Library Early Access Warning)

AUTHORS TAKE NOTE: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of the conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.

More Information

For additional information, clarification, or answers to questions please contact the Program Chair via onward@splashcon.org

Questions? Use the SPLASH Onward! Papers contact form.