50th ACM SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages

Top Research Topics at Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages?

• Programming language (53.14%)
• Theoretical computer science (35.62%)
• Algorithm (18.53%)

Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages primarily focuses on research topics in Programming language, Theoretical computer science, Algorithm, Semantics (computer science) and Compiler. Most of the works presented in the conference deals with Programming language but it intersects with the subject of Mathematical proof. Abstract interpretation is a focus of the Theoretical computer science works in the event.

Topics in Algorithm explored in the conference were investigated in conjunction with research in Discrete mathematics, Lambda calculus, Algebra and Type theory. The Semantics (computer science) study tackled is a key component of adjacent topics in the area of Semantics. Optimizing compiler is a major topic of Compiler research presented in the conference.

What are the most cited papers published at the conference?

• Abstract interpretation: a unified lattice model for static analysis of programs by construction or approximation of fixpoints (5615 citations)
• Proof-carrying code (1755 citations)
• Constraint logic programming (1550 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages:

The conference articles focus largely on the fields of Programming language, Theoretical computer science, Algorithm, Correctness and Compiler. Programming language research in the most cited articles connects with the study of Type theory. The conference publications hold forums on Theoretical computer science that merge themes from other disciplines such as Program analysis, Semantics (computer science), Set (abstract data type) and Data structure.

What topics the last edition of the conference is best known for?

• Programming language
• Operating system
• Artificial intelligence

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The primary areas of discussion in the conference are Programming language, Theoretical computer science, Semantics (computer science), Algebra and Concurrency. Programming language research featured in it incorporates concerns from various other topics such as Proof assistant and Key (cryptography). The work on Theoretical computer science tackled in the event brings together disciplines like Statement (computer science), Type theory and Relation (database).

The studies on Semantics (computer science) discussed can also contribute to research in the domains of Space (commercial competition), Simple (abstract algebra), Static analysis, Abstract interpretation and Syntax. While work presented in the event provided substantial information on Concurrency, it also covered topics in Scheduling (computing) and Agda. Topics in Type inference were tackled in line with various other fields like Abstraction (linguistics) and Algorithm.

The most cited articles from the last conference are:

• egg: Fast and extensible equality saturation (12 citations)
• A verified optimizer for Quantum circuits (12 citations)
• Precise subtyping for asynchronous multiparty sessions (10 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each conference is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

Top authors and change over time

The top authors publishing at Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (based on the number of publications) are:

• Benjamin C. Pierce (30 papers) absent at the last edition,
• Xavier Leroy (22 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
• Robert Harper (20 papers) absent at the last edition,
• Matthias Felleisen (20 papers) absent at the last edition,
• Thomas Reps (19 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing at this conference is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the conference for top authors.

Top affiliations and change over time

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing at Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (based on the number of publications) are:

• Microsoft (144 papers) absent at the last edition,
• French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (96 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition,
• Carnegie Mellon University (95 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition,
• IBM (71 papers) absent at the last edition,
• Stanford University (63 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing at this conference is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the conference for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions at the conference edition to all articles published within that conference. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the conference.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 1.59% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 25.81% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing at the conference. Another 24.19% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 25.81% of all publications and 24.19% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of conferences they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same conference from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the conference in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing at a conference. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a conference, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

• Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
• Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
• Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
• Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
• Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.