The Era of Programming Languages Exploration is upon Us

Headline: A New Era of Programming Languages Exploration Begins

There was a recent discussion on the TYPES mailing list, where researchers shared their thoughts on the future of programming languages given the impact of AI tools. While some opinions were positive, the majority expressed concern about the field becoming obsolete. Researchers feel an existential crisis and experience lower morale, higher stress, and anxiety levels, which mirrors the mental health challenges seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author of this article is not one of them, and instead sees this as a fantastic opportunity.

The author argues that the decline in human-written programing will not render programming languages research irrelevant. Programming languages serve as a bridge between theory and application, and their elegance and beauty remain intact. The author emphasizes that researchers should focus on exploration, unbounded by the need to consider practical applications.

This perspective is supported by observations that many existing programming languages have very few users, and that applying LLMs can help tackle larger and more complex problems.

The author is particularly excited about the potential of LLMs to accelerate the process of testing and validating research counterfactuals. They can now ask and answer questions quickly, investigate novel ideas, and explore various 'what-if' scenarios. This increased efficiency in research allows for a deeper understanding of the underlying assumptions that form the basis of our software ecosystem. With LLMs on our side, the author believes that it is an exciting time for the future of programming languages research.