Position Paper 5

Due: Monday, 17 April at 11:59pm
Out: 4 April

Optional: This position paper may be used to replace your lowest grade on Position Papers 1-4.

Your final position paper grade is the average of your four highest position papers. If you are satisfied with your position paper grades so far, you do not need to do Position Paper 5.

You may submit a position paper on any one of the following three topics:

Choice 1: Expressiveness vs. Safety

A common theme in the languages we have seen in this class is the tradeoff designers must make between expressiveness (meaning how clearly and easily programs may be expressed) and safety. Turbak and Gifford's Chapter 13 described this conflict: "the more we can say about programs, the less we can say with them."

Using examples from throughout the course, argue either that

1. Turbak and Gifford's claim is wrong and it is possible to have safety without sacrificing expressiveness, or
2. It is not possible to have safety without sacrificing expressiveness.

Choice 2: Rewrite Position Paper 1

Write a new "Why X Is Not My Favorite Programming Language" paper. Your paper should be a technical critique, reflecting your extensive knowledge of programming languages theory and practice.

Write a position paper on anything you want relevant to this course. If you are unsure if your topic is suitable, check with Dave first.

University of Virginia CS 655: Programming Languages

cs655-staff@cs.virginia.edu