Research in Software Development

We are nearing the home stretch for Visual Studio 2005. While I am very excited about the potential impact of this release, I am equally if not more excited about the research we have underway in the Microsoft Research labs, particularly around software development and developer productivity.

Microsoft Research is working on various technologies to help define the computing experience. Motivated by a customer suggestion or simply a researcher's passion, folks in Microsoft Research are driven to push the state-of-the-art, thinking of a world two to ten years in the future.

One core group is researching the art and science of software development, spanning all aspects of developer productivity. They are also looking into making software more trustworthy. Compilers, programming, specification, runtime environments, verification, formal models, performance monitoring are some of their focus areas.

Some of their specific projects include SLAM, a project that is investigating the relationships between Software (Specifications), Languages, Analysis, and Model checking, Vault, a new programming language for building reliable systems, Behave!,a project that aims at building tools to check behavioral properties and Zing, a flexible and scalable systematic state space exploration infrastructure for software.

Working in collaboration with universities and product groups, these researchers are treading into unexplored territory, boldly going where no developer has gone before. Take a look at what they’re doing.

Namaste!