Subject: categories: java Workshop Reminder

From: Susan Eisenbach <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 18:45:56 +0100

About two months ago I announced a workshop on formal
underpinnings of Java. Since then I've had email from Java
Software at Sun (what used to be called Javasoft) expressing
interest.

They said:
Our main interest is in formal specification of Java byte code
verification because that is an area where a formal spec is both realistic
and sorely needed. We hope to be able to adapt some approach developed in
the research community. 

If you are doing work in this or related work there is still
time to submit an extended abstract to our workshop.

Formal Underpinnings of Java - an OOPSLA'98 Workshop

Important Dates   
Submissions:      31 July 1998   
Notifications:    20 August 1998   
Final Versions:   20 September 1998   
Workshop:         Sunday, 18 October 1998,  Vancouver,
Canada
    
Java offers a novel paradigm for program deployment. It supports
intermediate code that is dynamically loaded from remote sites - sometimes
without the user's knowledge. For Web pages, Java applets can greatly
improve interactivity; for Java developers, the Java paradigm promises
benefits in portability and manageability. However, the Java paradigm also
opens new possibilities for abuse and has caused concern about security.
    
The application of formal methods to the Java paradigm aims to provide a
better understanding of the approach by rigorously formulating and trying
to prove the soundness of binary compatibility, type safety, security and
other guarantees made by Java. It also aims to provide some guidance for
further development of the paradigm by uncovering possible design flaws
and by supplying a platform for the description of future extensions.
    
This workshop aims to bring together researchers to share new ideas and
results.  Since the main focus in selecting workshop contributions will be
the intrinsic interest and timeliness of the work, authors are encouraged
to submit (polished) descriptions of work in progress as well as papers
describing completed projects. The proceedings will be published as a
Princeton University technical report and be available from the web.  We
solicit submissions on original research on the following, or related
subjects:
      semantics of Java 
      semantics of byte code, correctness of the byte code
verifier 
      formal verification of Java programs 
      separate compilation, binary compatibility 
      dynamic linking and loading 
      security policy 
      practicality of formal methods for Java 
      comparison of  approaches, tools 

Electronic versions of extended abstracts between 2500 and5000 words
(approximately 5-10 pages) should be e-mailed to 
[email-masked] 
by Friday, 31 July 1998, using US-letter or A4 size,Postscript or PDF. 
The submission may be included inline in the message or as a MIME
attachment only. (If electronic submission is impossible, postal
submissions must be received by Friday 31 July 1998; enclose 4
double-sided copies, a return postal address, a phone number, and a return
e-mail address.)  Receipt of the submissions will be acknowledged by
e-mail. The authors should inquire in case a prompt acknowledgment is not
received.

Program Committee

      Susan Eisenbach, Imperial College  
      Jim Alves-Foss, University of Idaho  
      Drew Dean, Princeton University  
      Sophia Drossopoulou, Imperial College  
      Tobias Nipkow, Technische Universität München  
      Raymie Stata, Digital Equipment Corporation 

Correspondence and questions should be sent to   
                                                           
[email-masked]
http://www-dse.doc.ic.ac.uk/~sue/oopsla/cfp.html