Tomas Petricek

The open access version of Cultures of Programming is now available online. Just in time for the holiday break! Read it here: www.cambridge.org/core/books/c... If you prefer a real book, use PETRICK26 for a 20% discount (valid until January 31) at: www.cambridge.org/9781009492348

So great seeing folks at OOPSLA in Oakland a few weeks back! In case you missed my talk on "Direct Manipulation and Natural Language Programming, Together at Last?", slides are finally up: parkie-doo.computer/talks/oopsla... And the paper, of course! dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

What does it take for people to be able to adapt the computer systems they use? Under the term substrates, this workshop brings together past and present research directions that explore and realize the vision of systems people truly own. 2027.programmingconference.org/home/substra...

archive.org/details/bits...

I haven't forgotten this:) After many revisions, we recently published an essay on diversifying abstraction in software: tomasp.net/academic/pap... Soft. engineering usually uses "symbolic abstraction" as its mode of abstraction, the essay defines it and argues for a broader definition

I had a wonderful time at #oopsla in Oakland and UC San Diego - thanks to @devamarh.bsky.social for inviting me and organising an amazing visit! It took me only a week to get organized enough to upload my various talks slides. 😬 For anyone interested: github.com/tpetricek/ta...

Mathematicians are now wishing they never invented matrix multiplications.

I am very pleased to share the program for LIVE'26: liveprog.org We have seven exciting presentations as well as a featured keynote by Brian Hempel! LIVE this year will take place remotely, so come join us over video-chat next Saturday (Oct 17) :)

Curious how to write a Flappy Bird clone in a spreadsheet (with time)? Come to my #oopsla talk in the afternoon! (15:30, East Hall 1) Or read our paper about Timeline: tomasp.net/academic/pap...

What do type providers, structure editors and interactive theorem provers have in common? Do not miss my Onward! Paper presentation (Today, 11:00) at #splash2026! Paper for those not in Oakland: tomasp.net/academic/pap...

Un énorme merci à Julien for presenting the Cultures of Programming book at @lambdanantes.bsky.social!

Sonic Pi now runs in the web! sonic-pi.net

In 2027, the International Conference on the Art, Science, and Engineering of Programming (‹Programming› 2027) will be held from 15 to 19 March in Kyoto, Japan. We are looking for workshops and similar events. More info, deadlines, and submissions: 2027.programmingconference.org/track/progra...

Charles University has a new funding scheme! If you are international researcher who wants to join us in Prague (3-12 years after your PhD), consider applying: cuni.cz/UKEN-2541.html The deadline (9 Nov) is tight, but it's a new thing. Happy to help anyone with interests overlapping with mine!

How to build a TODO list app in Denicek? See it for yourself here: tomasp.net/denicek/ You can use programming-by-demonstration to record steps copying new item to a list. A neat trick is that, when you add "completed" checkboxes, replaying the "Add" action adds them too! (By merging edits...)

We presented Denicek at UIST 2025. Now you can play with the demos interactively! Write a counter and TODO list app, organise a conference with co-organisers, clean data in an interactive notebook... Essay backed by the real implementation: tomasp.net/denicek/ (with @jonathoda.bsky.social)

The only course I attended during my PhD in computer science at Cambridge was on Mercury (the chemical element) and it was great!

Getting ready for my #ecoop academy tutorial on programming systems!

My university has a fund for post-docs coming from abroad! If you are interested in working with me & our group on something related to programming systems and languages, from PL, HCI or historical & philosophical perspectives, get in touch (ideally in a few days...) See: cuni.cz/UKEN-178.html

📣What's new? The Novelty and Inequalities in Science symposium will be held in Prague (Oct. 8–9, 2026)! Please consider proposing an abstract on the topics of recognizing and rewarding novelty in science. More details: stss.flu.cas.cz/novelty2026 #scienceofscience #metascience #sociologyofscience 🧪

Programování není jen kód, je to kultura! 💻📜 Rektor UK Jiří Zima udělil prestižní Cenu Bedřicha Hrozného za tvůrčí počin a my máme obrovskou radost, že ji získal docent Tomáš Petříček z naší @mff.unikarlova.cuni.cz! 🏆

I’m looking for participants for a paid user study on a prototype system for tabular programming (programming with tables / data frames). 2 hours • $50 Visa prepaid card Hoping to finish sessions by March 13. Details + sign up in 🧵 Reposts appreciated! 🙏

We created an exhibition to go along with my 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 book! tomasp.net/cultures/exh... It tells the story of how programming concepts methodologies emerge amidst clashes and collaborations between cultures. 🖼If you want to display this at your university or conference, let me know!

👩‍💻 Dnes slavíme Mezinárodní den žen a dívek ve vědě. Na Matfyzu potkáváme každý den inspirativní vědkyně a studentky, které posouvají hranice technologií. 🚀 Děkujeme všem našim kolegyním a studentkám za jejich práci, preciznost a nadšení. Jste inspirací pro budoucí generace informatiček! 💙

The @undonecs.org programme has 27 (!!) talks asking some of the most fundamental questions about computer science. The early registration deadline is February 16th, so sign up soon: www.undonecs.org/2026/program... (Also, it costs between 10x and ∞x less than your regular ACM CS conference.)

It has arrived!!!

A new web page for my book! tomasp.net/cultures/ It has all the links you may need to get the open access PDF, buy a hardcopy or an ebook as well as some older talks & slides. If you run a podcast, conference or a user group, I'm always hapy to join & talk about something from the book!

I've now reached a stage in my career where I have to carefuly manage my time - and so I create a list of todo items to work on at the start of each month to keep myself organized!

arxiv.org/pdf/2601.14846 cc @dorchard.bsky.social

If you're thinking of applying to PLISS, you've got three days left! pliss.org/2026/registr...

My book in the newly published books bookshelf in the Cambridge University Bookshop! I got my first book on programming languages from there and used to wonder in basically every weekend to see what's new :-)

Can someone explain to me, why the "Basic" version of the ACM DL only gives me a link to a crappy "eReader" but the pro version includes link to the PDF? Did they build "eReader" just to frustrate users? Greasemonkey script to the rescue... but why?

@adamgryu.bsky.social We loved playing A Short Hike over the holiday break... and this was the result 😀 Thank you for creating a beautiful game!

Looking forward to coming to this amazing conference exploring the gaps in computer science research!

.@julien-lange.bsky.social and I are looking for a PostDoc to work on our EPSRC Project "INDIMO: Invariant Discovery and Monitoring for Message-Passing Programs". If you know someone, or are interested, please reach out! A few details here: jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...