Daniel Jackson

Research Interests. I'm interested in finding ways to make software more dependable and easier to use, and to reduce the cost of development. My research to date has focused on lightweight formal methods, in particular Alloy, a language for modelling software that is supported by a fully automatic analyzer based on SAT. I am currently working with my students on design analysis, checking code against designs, generating code from models, constructing end-to-end dependability cases, automatic test case generation, and storage leak detection.

Quick Links
My book: catalog entry, resources, buy from amazon.com
Alloy: website, workshop, Scientific American article
Software Design Group: publications, projects, people, my talks

Professional Activities. Recent keynotes at ICGT/SBMF, RE 2005, CADE, ZB 2003, FME, SAS, and ASE; summer school lectures at Lipari (2005) and Marktoberdorf (2003). I recently chaired a National Academies study on software dependability and certification. I am a member of the editorial board of the MIT Press.

Community Activities. I am a board member for MEET and MIT Hillel, and I run Dinner@6 with Irwin Pless.

Teaching.
Fall 2008: 6.005, Elements of Software Construction
Spring 2008: 6.005, Elements of Software Construction
Fall 2007: 6.005, Elements of Software Construction
Spring 2007: Developing 6.005
Spring 2006: 6.826: Principles of Computer Systems
Spring 2005: 6.894: Lightweight Formal Methods
Spring 2003: 6.033: Computer Systems Engineering
Fall 2002/4/5/6: 6.170: Lab in Software Engineering
Spring 2002: 6.898: Advanced Topics in Software Design
Lecture Notes on Software Engineering, Fall 2000 (PDF)

Personal. I am an avid photographer. My father Michael Jackson is a software engineering researcher whose ideas have influenced my work greatly. Stata Center photos here.