The Programming Research Group

The Programming Research Group (PRG) obtained its early reputation for its pioneering research on programming languages, concentrating on their logical foundations, including Scott-Strachey denotational semantics, for its development of the CSP approach to concurrent processes, and for the Z specification language and algebraic theories of programming. More recent research (often in collaboration with other organisations) has developed the occam language, methods to ensure the correct production of software and hardware, the functional programming language Orwell, and the 2OBJ and Jape logical frameworks for theorem proving, hardware compilers and optimisers, and game-theoretic models of higher-order programming.

Many of its research projects rely on a constant interaction of mathematical theories with their experimental validation and evaluation. Others involve methods from other disciplines such as the social sciences. All aim to achieve a high degree of intellectual rigour.

On the experimental side the PRG has established a policy of subjecting its theories to practical tests. Early tests are often conducted as student projects; they range from significant case studies on paper to prototype implementations designed to answer specific questions of feasibility, to explore the range of application and to evaluate acceptability of interfaces. In many cases a project has been set up under the sponsorship of local industry or of another department of the University and the delivered programs have been of recognised benefit to their sponsors.

One important characteristic of the PRG is the spirit of free interchange among its members working on different theories or on different applications. Problems of practical importance are often solved with the assistance of a theorist --- or perhaps such problems reveal a gap or deficiency in the theory and the remedy leads to a yet more elegant and comprehensive theory. It continues to vindicate the wisdom of Christopher Strachey's remarks.

The PRG has more than fifty research partners throughout the world. One project, with INMOS Ltd., won the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement in 1990; a second Queen's Award was gained in 1992 on the basis of the Laboratory's long-term collaboration with IBM UK Ltd on the re-engineering of its CICS transaction processing system.

A number of research areas of particular interest have led to the setting up of specific research groups.