New challenges in software (e.g. machine learning, probabilistic programming, homomorphic encryption) and upcoming exotic hardware (e.g. TPUs) are stretching our programming languages to their limits. Conventional compilers and libraries are no longer enough, and we increasingly see libraries and applications that include their own special-purpose compilers or program transformations. We need ways to contain the complexity and effort that such “compilerized” software entails. In this talk I’ll discuss how we are reusing and extending Julia’s compiler and multiple dispatch system to make compilerization easier, more general, and more reliable.

Jeff is one of the creators of Julia, co-founding the project at MIT in 2009 and eventually receiving a Ph.D. related to the language in 2015. He continues to work on the compiler and system internals, while also working to expand Julia’s commercial reach as a co-founder of Julia Computing, Inc.