About us
Love talking about papers? So do we!
Do you have a paper within the realm of computing that excites you — recent or classic — and want to share it with others? Or would you enjoy hearing accessible, enthusiastic explanations of important research?
Whether you have implemented the ideas, used them in a project, or simply want to learn and discuss, this is a welcoming, inclusive space for presenters and listeners alike: we celebrate diverse perspectives, encourage practical demos and honest struggles. Everyone — students, researchers, engineers and curious minds — is invited.
Logistics — we meet monthly in Zürich, usually on a Thursday, 18:15–20:00; RSVP on Meetup.
Subjects — papers live within the broad realms of computing and computer science, kept intentionally open-ended.
Audience — ideal for anyone who wants accessible explanations of complex computer-science papers, where the maths is typically simplified.
Culture — inclusive, respectful and welcoming to diverse perspectives.
Presentation format — talks are typically 45–60 minutes, followed by discussion, Q&A and networking.
We are curating this repository for papers presented at PWL Zürich. You can contribute by adding Pull Requests for papers, code, and/or links to our repository here. We keep a list of papers that we would like to talk about. Slides of all our previous talks will be made available (if available) on our website.
We follow the Papers We Love Code of Conduct.
More details can be found on the event page.
Upcoming events
1
Catching Resource Bugs at Compile Time!
Room HG G 26.5, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Building HG, Room HG G 26.5, Zurich, CHFor the next session, Olivier Lischer, a Master's student at OST in Rapperswil, will present "Linear Haskell - Practical Linearity in a Higher-Order Polymorphic Language".
Linear Types: A type system paradigm that tracks resource usage (like file handles, memory pointers, etc) and rules out violations at compile time, already found in mainstream languages like Rust.
Haskell: A strongly typed functional programming language used in high-assurance software.
A priori, Haskell's type system said nothing about how many times a value is used. Linear types add exactly that: a function can require its argument to be consumed exactly once. This is enough to encode resource protocols in types, so using an array after it has been frozen, or a handle after it has been closed, becomes a type error instead of a runtime one.
Why care?
- For PL and type-theory enthusiasts: this is Girard's linear logic, thirty years old, showing up in a compiler you already use. The interesting bit is the compromise: making linearity coexist with all the ordinary Haskell code that came before it is harder than the theory, and the design choices there are where the talk gets fun.
- For performance-minded programmers: linearity is how you get in-place mutation behind a pure interface. An array that is consumed exactly once can be updated destructively without anyone observing the difference, so you keep equational reasoning and drop the copy.
This is a joint talk with HaskellerZ. The talk will be 45–60 minutes, followed by discussion and Q&A. No prior background in type systems is required; basic familiarity with functional programming will help.
6 attendees
Past events
4
