Fishing for a CS Masters Thesis Topic

> I've been primarily a Windows C++ developer for 12 years with a little
> Java, Perl, Python, and lately Ruby along the way.  I've never looked
> at line of Smalltalk until recently.  But that all changed when I
> decided to get a Masters in CS and since a PhD isn't out of the
> question write a thesis.
>
> When asked by a co-worker what my thesis topic would be, I said "maybe
> something with peer-to-peer, gaming, collaborative environments, 3D,
> education, visual programming, interaction design, or languages" (big
> list I know but somewhat ordered).  I started digging around and
> noticed a pattern... Smalltalk, Squeak, Croquet, and Seaside kept
> coming up (although it took a little while to notice the mouse icon
> and 3d bunny.
>
> So I've ordered the book "Object Land", downloaded all the free books
> and Squeak (ordered the DVD too), and joined the list.  But I'm still
> having trouble narrowing down a thesis topic to present to my adviser
> (for adjustment I'm sure).
>
> Anyone have any suggestions for a thesis topic?  Maybe there is some
> part of Squeak that the community would like
> documented/researched/implemented.  P2P gaming/collaboration using
> Croquet sound interesting (Croquet has a great deal of potential), but
> I'm pretty open for suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
>
> PS: As a working C++ developer it will take a while for me to finish
> the thesis and my masters.
>
>

> I've been primarily a Windows C++ developer for 12 years with a little
> Java, Perl, Python, and lately Ruby along the way.  I've never looked
> at line of Smalltalk until recently.  But that all changed when I
> decided to get a Masters in CS and since a PhD isn't out of the
> question write a thesis.
>
> When asked by a co-worker what my thesis topic would be, I said "maybe
> something with peer-to-peer, gaming, collaborative environments, 3D,
> education, visual programming, interaction design, or languages" (big
> list I know but somewhat ordered).  I started digging around and
> noticed a pattern... Smalltalk, Squeak, Croquet, and Seaside kept
> coming up (although it took a little while to notice the mouse icon
> and 3d bunny.
>
> So I've ordered the book "Object Land", downloaded all the free books
> and Squeak (ordered the DVD too), and joined the list.  But I'm still
> having trouble narrowing down a thesis topic to present to my adviser
> (for adjustment I'm sure).
>
> Anyone have any suggestions for a thesis topic?  Maybe there is some
> part of Squeak that the community would like
> documented/researched/implemented.  P2P gaming/collaboration using
> Croquet sound interesting (Croquet has a great deal of potential), but
> I'm pretty open for suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
>
> PS: As a working C++ developer it will take a while for me to finish
> the thesis and my masters.
>
>

> I've been primarily a Windows C++ developer for 12 years with a little
> Java, Perl, Python, and lately Ruby along the way.  I've never looked
> at line of Smalltalk until recently.  But that all changed when I
> decided to get a Masters in CS and since a PhD isn't out of the
> question write a thesis.
>
> When asked by a co-worker what my thesis topic would be, I said "maybe
> something with peer-to-peer, gaming, collaborative environments, 3D,
> education, visual programming, interaction design, or languages" (big
> list I know but somewhat ordered).  I started digging around and
> noticed a pattern... Smalltalk, Squeak, Croquet, and Seaside kept
> coming up (although it took a little while to notice the mouse icon
> and 3d bunny.
>
> So I've ordered the book "Object Land", downloaded all the free books
> and Squeak (ordered the DVD too), and joined the list.  But I'm still
> having trouble narrowing down a thesis topic to present to my adviser
> (for adjustment I'm sure).
>
> Anyone have any suggestions for a thesis topic?  Maybe there is some
> part of Squeak that the community would like
> documented/researched/implemented.  P2P gaming/collaboration using
> Croquet sound interesting (Croquet has a great deal of potential), but
> I'm pretty open for suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
>
> PS: As a working C++ developer it will take a while for me to finish
> the thesis and my masters.
>

>
> I've been primarily a Windows C++ developer for 12 years with a little
> Java, Perl, Python, and lately Ruby along the way.  I've never looked
> at line of Smalltalk until recently.  But that all changed when I
> decided to get a Masters in CS and since a PhD isn't out of the
> question write a thesis.
>
> When asked by a co-worker what my thesis topic would be, I said "maybe
> something with peer-to-peer, gaming, collaborative environments, 3D,
> education, visual programming, interaction design, or languages" (big
> list I know but somewhat ordered).  I started digging around and
> noticed a pattern... Smalltalk, Squeak, Croquet, and Seaside kept
> coming up (although it took a little while to notice the mouse icon
> and 3d bunny.
>
> So I've ordered the book "Object Land", downloaded all the free books
> and Squeak (ordered the DVD too), and joined the list.  But I'm still
> having trouble narrowing down a thesis topic to present to my adviser
> (for adjustment I'm sure).
>
> Anyone have any suggestions for a thesis topic?  Maybe there is some
> part of Squeak that the community would like
> documented/researched/implemented.  P2P gaming/collaboration using
> Croquet sound interesting (Croquet has a great deal of potential), but
> I'm pretty open for suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
>
> PS: As a working C++ developer it will take a while for me to finish
> the thesis and my masters.
>

>   Robert,
>
>   We have a research project proposal titled "Steps Toward The
> Reinvention of Programming" (which is accepted by NSF).  This
> research tries to cover everything about computing from the metal to
> the end-user experience.  Because it tries to cover everything, what
> you described are all have some relevance^^;
>
>   Take a look at the proposal:
>
> http://vpri.org/pdf/NSF_prop_RN-2006-002.pdf
>
> and other docs from:
>
>   http://vpri.org/html/writings.htm
>

> .  Hopefully, that would give you some perspective on the various
> topics.
>
> -- Yoshiki
>
> At Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:17:17 -0600,
> Robert Stehwien wrote:
> >
> > I've been primarily a Windows C++ developer for 12 years with a little
> > Java, Perl, Python, and lately Ruby along the way.  I've never looked
> > at line of Smalltalk until recently.  But that all changed when I
> > decided to get a Masters in CS and since a PhD isn't out of the
> > question write a thesis.
> >
> > When asked by a co-worker what my thesis topic would be, I said "maybe
> > something with peer-to-peer, gaming, collaborative environments, 3D,
> > education, visual programming, interaction design, or languages" (big
> > list I know but somewhat ordered).  I started digging around and
> > noticed a pattern... Smalltalk, Squeak, Croquet, and Seaside kept
> > coming up (although it took a little while to notice the mouse icon
> > and 3d bunny.
> >
> > So I've ordered the book "Object Land", downloaded all the free books
> > and Squeak (ordered the DVD too), and joined the list.  But I'm still
> > having trouble narrowing down a thesis topic to present to my adviser
> > (for adjustment I'm sure).
> >
> > Anyone have any suggestions for a thesis topic?  Maybe there is some
> > part of Squeak that the community would like
> > documented/researched/implemented.  P2P gaming/collaboration using
> > Croquet sound interesting (Croquet has a great deal of potential), but
> > I'm pretty open for suggestions.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Robert
> >
> > PS: As a working C++ developer it will take a while for me to finish
> > the thesis and my masters.
> >
>
>

> Under languages:
>
>
> A new kernel for Squeak, based only on Traits (no inheritance).
>
>
> Why?
>
>
> 1. Writing a kernel for Squeak should be challenging and a little  
> mindbending.
>
> 2. I am quite sure that it is possible to create something easier  
> to understand than the current kernel, which uses both inheritance  
> and traits.
>
> 3. Seems quite likely to me that it would allow to simplify other  
> parts of the system, because if done right it would allow to have a  
> variety of things that are somewhat similar to classes without  
> duplication of code. For example, a representation of a version of  
> a class that is not currently loaded (useful for versioning  
> systems) has some of the functionality of a class (same state), but  
> lacks other functionality (cannot create instances).
>
>
> Daniel
>
>
> Robert Stehwien wrote:
>
>> I've been primarily a Windows C++ developer for 12 years with a  
>> little
>> Java, Perl, Python, and lately Ruby along the way.  I've never looked
>> at line of Smalltalk until recently.  But that all changed when I
>> decided to get a Masters in CS and since a PhD isn't out of the
>> question write a thesis.
>>
>> When asked by a co-worker what my thesis topic would be, I said  
>> "maybe
>> something with peer-to-peer, gaming, collaborative environments, 3D,
>> education, visual programming, interaction design, or languages" (big
>> list I know but somewhat ordered).  I started digging around and
>> noticed a pattern... Smalltalk, Squeak, Croquet, and Seaside kept
>> coming up (although it took a little while to notice the mouse icon
>> and 3d bunny.
>>
>> So I've ordered the book "Object Land", downloaded all the free books
>> and Squeak (ordered the DVD too), and joined the list.  But I'm still
>> having trouble narrowing down a thesis topic to present to my adviser
>> (for adjustment I'm sure).
>>
>> Anyone have any suggestions for a thesis topic?  Maybe there is some
>> part of Squeak that the community would like
>> documented/researched/implemented.  P2P gaming/collaboration using
>> Croquet sound interesting (Croquet has a great deal of potential),  
>> but
>> I'm pretty open for suggestions.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Robert
>>
>> PS: As a working C++ developer it will take a while for me to finish
>> the thesis and my masters.
>>
>
>
>

>
>  > Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:40:44 +0300
> > From: [hidden email]
> > To: [hidden email]
> > Subject: Re: Fishing for a CS Masters Thesis Topic
> >
> > Under languages:
>
> Also under languages:
>
> What I would personally like to see worked on is having a better language to
> fill the systems programming roll.  Right now everything converges on C/C++.
>  There are higher level languages that are used to systems programming (e.g.
> Slang), but as far as I know they *all* convert to C.  The GCC project has
> the ability to take an AST directly to convert to machine code, but this is
> also constrained by what C is capable of.
>
> What I would like to see is some other language used for this "portable
> assembler", but without the assumptions and limitations of C [1].  Instead
> of deciding that added complexity is the solution (e.g. C++) I would like to
> see a language that looked to simplicity.  Personally, I was thinking of a
> Lisp language for this roll because Lisp is the only language I am aware of
> (a useful one anyway) that is actually *simpler* then Smalltalk.  I think
> powerful Lisp macros would also make it possible to build abstractions on
> top of the very low level primitives so that you don't have to do thinks
> like do a function call setup unless you didn't like any of the available
> options.
>
> [1] Some of the limitations I was thinking of are things like the
> stack-based method of doing function calls and the inability to catch
> overflow, but I'm sure there are even more.
>
> Thanks,
> Jason
>
> ________________________________
> Live Earth is coming.  Learn more about the hottest summer event - only on
> MSN. Check it out!
>
>
>

>
>
> On 20/06/07, J J <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>>  > Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:40:44 +0300
>> > From: [hidden email]
>> > To: [hidden email]
>> > Subject: Re: Fishing for a CS Masters Thesis Topic
>> >
>> > Under languages:
>>
>> Also under languages:
>>
>> What I would personally like to see worked on is having a better  
>> language to
>> fill the systems programming roll.  Right now everything converges  
>> on C/C++.
>>  There are higher level languages that are used to systems  
>> programming (e.g.
>> Slang), but as far as I know they *all* convert to C.  The GCC  
>> project has
>> the ability to take an AST directly to convert to machine code,  
>> but this is
>> also constrained by what C is capable of.
>>
>> What I would like to see is some other language used for this  
>> "portable
>> assembler", but without the assumptions and limitations of C [1].  
>> Instead
>> of deciding that added complexity is the solution (e.g. C++) I  
>> would like to
>> see a language that looked to simplicity.  Personally, I was  
>> thinking of a
>> Lisp language for this roll because Lisp is the only language I am  
>> aware of
>> (a useful one anyway) that is actually *simpler* then Smalltalk.  
>> I think
>> powerful Lisp macros would also make it possible to build  
>> abstractions on
>> top of the very low level primitives so that you don't have to do  
>> thinks
>> like do a function call setup unless you didn't like any of the  
>> available
>> options.
>>
>> [1] Some of the limitations I was thinking of are things like the
>> stack-based method of doing function calls and the inability to catch
>> overflow, but I'm sure there are even more.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jason
>>
>> ________________________________
>> Live Earth is coming.  Learn more about the hottest summer event -  
>> only on
>> MSN. Check it out!
>>
>>
>>
>

> Hi!
>
> > another great limitation of C, like in other strictly typed languages,
> > is inability to construct a calls to a dynamically prototyped function
> > at runtime and lack of of type info.
> > Even templates in C++ doesn't solve this problem - you still need to
> > know all the types of function parameters at compile time, and there's
> > no ways to construct and call them at runtime.
>
> Would you mind to elaborate on this?
> Do you mean having a kind of perform: in a statically typed language ?
>