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In a society where computers have become ubiquitous, it is necessary to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of computer programs, not just from the technical viewpoint, but from a broader historical and philosophical perspective. A historical awareness of the evolution of programming not only helps to clarify the complex structure of computing, but it also provides an insight in what programming was, is and could be in the future. Philosophy, on the other hand, helps to tackle fundamental questions about the nature of programs, programming languages and programming as a discipline.
This edition of the symposium will be co-located with the final conference of the ANR-funded PROGRAMme project which poses the basic question “What is a computer program?” This seemingly simple question has no simple answer today, but the responses one gives to it affect very real problems: who is responsible if a given piece of software fails; whether a program is correct or not; or whether copyright or patent law applies to programs. The project is anchored in the conviction that a new kind of foundational research is needed. The broad range of scientific and societal problems related to computing cannot be addressed by any single discipline.
The question “What is a program?” is a call for deeper critical thinking about the nature of programs that is both foundational, in the sense that it goes beyond specific problems, but also accessible, in the sense that it should be open to anyone who is willing to make an effort in understanding this basic technique from a broader horizon.
Symposium programme
You can find all abstracts in the HaPoP 2022 - Book of Abstracts.
9:50 - 10:00: Introduction and welcome
10:00 - 11:20: Session 1
Session Chair: Liesbeth De Mol
- Warren Sack - Miniatures, Demos and Artworks: Three Kinds of Computer Program, Their Uses and Abuses
- Shoshana Simons - Programming practice as a microcosmos of human labor and knowledge relations
11:10 - 11:40: Coffee break
11:40 - 12:50: Session 2
Session Chair: Tomas Petricek
- Lucas Bang - Program Size: A Call for Inquiry
- Andre Dickson - The disturbance of death and debt
12:50 - 14:30: Lunch
14:30 - 15:40: Session 3
Session Chair: Mark Priestley
- Daniel Kuby - Towards a linguistic conception of programming
- Nicolas Nalpon and Alice Martin - Why semantics are not only about expressiveness - The reactive programming case
15:40 - 16:10: Coffee break
16:10 - 17:20: Session 4
Session Chair: Martin Carlé
Fabien Ferri - Diagrammatic writing as writing the non-programmable: a case study from the DRAKON graphical modeling language(cancelled)- Robin Hill - Hello World? An Interrogation
20:00 - 22:00: Dinner in Brasserie de la Paix
Registration & practical inforamtion
- Joint registration for HaPoP 2022 and PROGRAMme conference. The registration closes on 1 June. The registration is free and the cost of (optional) conference dinners is €35/day.
- The symposium will be taking place in MESHS, Espace Baiotti. For more information about the venue, please see the centers's access map.
- If you have any questions, please contact HaPoP co-organizers, Liesbeth De Mol and Tomas Petricek at [email protected] and [email protected]. For quick questions, you can also use @tomaspetricek on Twitter.
- We will be also sharing updates via the HaPoC Comission web page (register to get updates via email) and on Twitter at @HaPoComputing.
Special journal issue
Following the symposium, we will organize a special issue of the open access Computational Culture journal. Authors will be invited to submit full papers based on their presentation to be peer reviewed and considered for publication in the special issue.