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Title: On reflecting on runtime or Program, know thyself
Proposer: Dominic Robinson
Type: Tutorial
Duration: 90 mins
Description:
In a language not renowned for its reflection capabilities we struggle to give programs a view of their own static properties. So what then of runtime? Can a program know what it is doing, or why it is doing it?
Is there a model of cause and effect that can be applied to executing C++ code?
Can we build a MEP (Meta Execution Protocol) to allow a program to inspect its own runtime behaviour much as we might build a MOP (Meta Object Protocol) to inspect objects and classes?
If programs can become aware of their own and other program's intentions what does this make possible?
With Promises and Exceptions, C++ is gaining the ability to reify execution flow. But something is missing. 'Intentions' seek to capture the intent of executing code, providing the missing context in which Promises and Exceptions make sense.
This talk will cover:
The evolution of the ideas behind Intentions.
Intentions: a technique to reify the intent of executing code.
Implementation techniques for Intentions in serial, parallel, and distributed programs in C++.
Opportunities for using Intentions including: error reporting, capturing execution flow, and system provocation testing in the spirit of Netflix's Simian Army.
Footnote for Android developers: These Intentions are not those Android Intentions you were looking for.