The 63rd CREST Open Workshop, which focused on Genetic Improvement and Software Specialization, was a gathering of minds dedicated to advancing the field of software optimization. Among the distinguished speakers at this event was Dr. Oliver Krauss from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. His talk on “Pattern Mining and Genetic Improvement in Compilers and Interpreters” shed light on innovative approaches to enhancing software performance.
The workshop, which took place on March 27th and 28th, 2023, was held at the Engineering Front Building, Room 103. The event aimed to delve into the latest developments in Genetic Improvement (GI), which involves using automated search techniques to enhance existing software. This goes beyond traditional bug fixing, extending to optimizing runtime, memory consumption, and energy efficiency, as well as specializing software for specific application domains.
Dr. Krauss’s presentation was scheduled for Day 1, March 27th, at 13:30. In his talk, he explored how source code can be improved through the process of genetic improvement, which entails generating numerous variants of the same software. He focused on the utilization of pattern mining to identify recurring patterns in code responsible for non-functional properties or bugs. The goal was to showcase how these identified patterns can be applied in the genetic improvement process to optimize a software’s runtime performance.
The concept of Genetic Improvement is particularly relevant in the context of software development. Creating variations of software through automated processes allows for the exploration of different configurations, leading to improvements in various aspects of performance. Dr. Krauss’s expertise in this area provided valuable insights into the practical application of genetic improvement techniques.
The workshop also featured other distinguished speakers such as Prof. Myra Cohen from Iowa State University and Prof. Bill Langdon from University College London, who shared their experiences and insights into the world of Genetic Improvement.
The second day of the workshop, March 28th, continued the exploration of cutting-edge research and industry insights into software optimization, featuring presentations from experts like Dr. Serkan Kirbas from Bloomberg and Prof. Mark Harman from Meta/University College London.
The CREST Open Workshop provided a platform for participants to engage in discussions, share research findings, and collectively identify key challenges that need to be addressed in future research. The event served as a nexus for academia and industry, fostering collaboration and advancing the collective understanding of Genetic Improvement and Software Specialization.