Title: Browsing Web 3.0 on 3.0 Watts (or Why Browsers Will Be Parallel and Implications for Education)

Speaker: Ras Bodik, U.C. Berkeley

Abstract:

We live in exciting times.  The miniaturization predicted by Bell's Law
is taking another revolutionary step, this time replacing laptops with
handhelds.  Equipped with sensors, connected to the web, and deployed to
billions of users, handhelds will redefine computing and change how we
live our lives.

Handhelds will integrate phone, gaming and PDA functionality.  Trends
suggest that all three functions will run in a browser.  But can a
handheld browser match the laptop browsing experience?  We will argue
that given human I/O, networking, and CPU roadmaps, developing a
parallel browser is the key remaining obstacle.

I will present our current understanding of what it will take to give
the browser enough CPU cycles at a battery power.  I will also present
our preliminary results with parallel lexing, a new client-side web
language, and our plans for parallel parsing.

I will also discuss what our community may want to do to re-excite
undergraduates about languages and compilers.


Bio:

Ras Bodik is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at U.C. Berkeley.
His interests span programming systems, from architecture to software
engineering tools.  He currently leads three projects: Parallel Web
Browser; Programming by Sketching; and Program Analysis Tools.