Hello
Here is the latest OCaml Weekly News, for the week of August 25 to September 01, 2015.
Archive: https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list/2015-08/msg00180.html
Boris Yakobowski announced:
The LSL laboratory at CEA LIST [#] has open permanent positions. If you are
interested, please consider applying. More details are available below.
==== Next generation tools for formal verification. ====
The LSL Software Security Laboratory helps developers and validation experts
ship high-confidence software and systems. With everyday objects getting more
and more complex, we have built a reputation for efficiently applying formal
reasoning techniques to establish their trustworthiness.
As part of the CEA LIST Institute, at the heart of Campus Paris Saclay, teams
at LSL are researching the best possible means to conduct formal verification.
We design tools such as Frama-C, GATeL, and UNISIM, that ensure
production-level systems can comply with the highest safety and security
standards. And in doing so, we get to interact with the most creative people
in academia and the industry.
Our organizational structure is simple: those who pioneer new concepts are the
ones who get to lead their implementation. We are a fast-growing thirty-person
team, and your work will have a direct and visible impact on the state of
formal verification.
== You ==
You dream of devising the next breakthrough in verification and to see it
through low-level implementation details. You read research papers with
a passion, but you are well aware that a toy prototype is quite different from
a hardened tool. You understand that what stands between both is a series of
challenging implementation problems. And that's great, because it means
getting your hands dirty and coming up with ground-breaking code.
You enjoy being a constructive member of a team of talented and dedicated
people; you are extremely reliable and the nightly builds will prove it every
time. Last week's bleeding-edge release of obscure packages is not really your
thing. You want the source code, you want scalability, and you want results.
If this sounds like you, we have a job for you.
== Role ==
We need you to help us develop our formal tools and platforms, both by
improving current verifiers and by designing new approaches. You will
contribute to growing the community of users, handling feedback and helping
real people solve real problems.
You will take an active role in research activities and industrial
partnerships, alongside other members of the laboratory. This can include
writing proposals, managing projects, publishing papers, and attending
scientific and technical events worldwide.
== Requirements ==
- Background in formal methods and programming languages.
- Hands-on experience with significant OCaml developments - other languages
are fine too, but you'll need to convince us you can adapt in a snap.
- Self-organized, with an ability to prioritize effectively.
- Team-minded - you know when to let someone else take the lead.
== Pluses ==
Various areas of our overall activity can also benefit from specific skillsets.
- Break new ground with us:
* Hands-on expertise in the fields of software security or hybrid systems.
* Flawless understanding of `C++` and object-oriented semantics.
- Precision-drive our infrastructure:
* Technical administration of Linux environments and development tools.
* Robust grasp of IT service management processes.
- Help us spread the word:
* Strong proficiency in foreign languages.
* A knack for writing and editing longform content.
== Applying ==
If you're interested in joining LSL, send us an email to share what inspires
you, and why you think you are a good match for the team. Send it with
a resume at florent.kirchner@cea.fr.
[#]
http://www-list.cea.fr/index.php/en/technological-research/research-programmes/embedded-systems/validation-and-verification
Archive: https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list/2015-08/msg00227.html
Amir Chaudhry announced:
I’ve just posted the following to infrastructure@lists.ocaml.org regarding
a governance framework for OCaml.org.
If you have thoughts, please do share them on that list.
http://lists.ocaml.org/pipermail/infrastructure/2015-August/000518.html
Best wishes,
Amir
> Dear all,
>
> Earlier this year, I began working towards a governance framework for the
> OCaml.org domain and the projects that make use of it. I wrote about my
> approach to this and mentioned that such a framework should:
> - demonstrate a commitment to a stable decision-making process.
> - be clear about scope (i.e. OCaml.org).
> - document current reality, rather than being aspirational.
> - be a living document, meaning that it can and should evolve.
>
> Please read the original post for detail on the above points.
> http://amirchaudhry.com/towards-governance-framework-for-ocamlorg/
>
> Since that time, I've drafted a governance document and discussed it with
> those who already run projects under OCaml.org. We've reached a point where
> we're ready to discuss this more widely and more formally adopt the model.
>
> Starting from today, we're sharing the document publicly and inviting any
> discussion on this mailing list (infrastructure@lists.ocaml.org). During
> this time, I'll also be asking the existing maintainers to ratify the
> document.
>
> By the 14th of September we'll wrap things up (for this time around) and
> publish version 1.0 of the agreed document on OCaml.org
>
> You can find a draft linked below and the step-by-step process we're
> following. Please do share your thoughts on this thread.
>
> Document: https://gist.github.com/amirmc/fe8a931c246bb13d9b32
>
> -- The process for adopting the governance framework --
>
> 0. I draft and discuss a governance document with existing project
> maintainers and reach agreement. (DONE).
> 1. I send an email update to the infra list and caml-list, with a link to
> a public version of the doc.
> 2. We allow a period of public discussion on the infra list.
> 3. During this, I explicitly ask Maintainers and Owner to confirm they will adopt the doc.
> 4. In parallel, I create an issue on the ocaml.org repo with a list of
> people to check off as agreements come in -- important that the responses
> happen on the mailing list as that's properly archived.
> 5. Once all the affirmations are in, I push the doc to the ocaml.org site.
Archive: https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list/2015-08/msg00181.html
The editor says:
There was a huge thread this week about the OCaml standard library. As many
different opinions were voiced, I recommend that you go read the thread at the
link above if you are interested in the subject. I only include below
a message from a member of the core team.
Alain Frisch said:
I'd like to add to this discussion that (at least some part of) the core team
considers that the standard library is an important component which deserves
some (more) attention. FWIW, Damien started recently some discussion on
caml-devel on how to best organize such efforts.
The key property of the standard library is that it is distributed with the
compiler, not that it must necessarily follow the same development model as
the rest of the compiler. Being distributed with the compiler has a number of
consequences, such as guarantees in terms of stability, portability, and of
course, ease of access and use (both technically and legally).
I don't think that the stdlib will/should be extended with many new functional
perimeters (e.g. support for file formats, network protocols, or bindings to
external systems are better left to external libraries). But filling missing
holes in existing modules, revisiting some design decisions (use of
exceptions, labeled/optional arguments, etc), easing interactions between
external libraries by agreeing on shared definitions, and perhaps adding a few
widely useful new features are certainly desirable (and hopefully achievable)
goals.
Archive: https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list/2015-08/msg00237.html
Charles Weitzer announced:
Voleon Capital Management LP is a startup quantitative hedge fund located in
Berkeley, California. We would like to hire a senior software engineer as soon
as possible.
Voleon’s founders previously worked together at one of the most successful
quantitative hedge funds in the world. Our CEO has a PhD in Computer Science
from Stanford and has been CEO and founder of a successful Internet
infrastructure startup. Our Chief Investment Officer has a PhD in Statistics
from Berkeley. Voleon’s team includes PhD's from leading departments in
statistics, computer science, and mathematics. We have made several
unpublished advances in the field of machine learning and in other areas as
well.
Here is our formal job description:
**********************************************************
* Senior Software Engineer *
Technology-driven investment firm employing cutting-edge statistical machine
learning techniques seeks an exceptionally capable software engineer. You will
architect and implement new production trading systems, machine learning
infrastructure, data integration pipelines, and large-scale storage systems.
The firm researches and deploys systematic trading strategies designed to
generate attractive returns without being dependent on the performance of the
overall market. Join a team of under 30 people that includes a Berkeley
statistics professor as well as over ten PhD's from Berkeley, Chicago, CMU,
Princeton, Stanford, and UCLA, led by the founder and CEO of a successful
Internet infrastructure technology firm. The firm’s offices are walking
distance from BART and the UC Berkeley campus in downtown Berkeley,
California. We have a casual and collegial office environment, weekly catered
lunches, and competitive benefits packages.
We seek candidates with a proven track record of writing correct,
well-designed software, solving hard problems, and delivering complex projects
on time. You should preferably have experience designing and implementing
fault-tolerant distributed systems. Experience with building large-scale data
infrastructure, stream processing systems, or latency-sensitive programs is a
bonus.
We are growing rapidly. Willingness to take initiative and a gritty
determination to productize are essential.
Required experience:
- developing with C/C++/Python/Go/OCaml in a Linux environment with a focus on
performance, concurrency, and correctness.
- experience with functional programming environments (Haskell, Erlang,
others).
- working in TCP/IP networking, multi-threading, and server development.
- working with common Internet protocols (IP, TCP/UDP, SSL/TLS, HTTP, SNMP,
etc.).
- architecting and designing highly available systems.
- architecting and designing large-scale data management infrastructure.
- working in large codebases and building modular, manageable code.
Preferred experience.:
- debugging and performance profiling, including the use of tools such as
strace, valgrind, gdb, tcpdump, etc.
- working with build and test automation tools.
- working with well-defined change management processes.
- diagnosing RDBMS performance problems, exploiting indexing, using EXPLAIN
PLAN, optimizing at the code layer, etc.
- working with messaging queues (RabbitMQ, Redis, etc.) as well as distributed
caching systems.
Interest in financial applications is essential, but experience in finance is
not a primary factor in our hiring.
Benefits and compensation are highly competitive.
**********************************************************
The above job description is just a starting point in terms of possible duties
and seniority. We can be very flexible for the right person.
If you are interested or if you know of anyone who might be interested, let us
know the best way to get in touch and we can discuss details.
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