Simon Peyton Jones
Encyclopedia
Simon Peyton Jones is a British computer scientist
who researches the implementation
and applications
of functional programming languages, particularly lazy functional languages
. He is an honorary Professor of Computer Science at the University of Glasgow
and supervises PhD Students at the University of Cambridge
in 1980, and worked in industry for two years before serving as a lecturer
at University College London
and (from 1990–1998) as a professor
at the University of Glasgow
. Since 1998 he has worked as a researcher at Microsoft Research
in Cambridge, England. He is married to Dorothy, a priest in the Church of England
, and they have three children..
He is a major contributor to the design of the Haskell
programming language, and a contributor of the Glasgow Haskell Compiler
(GHC). He is also co-creator of the programming language, designed for intermediate program representation between the language-specific front-end of a compiler and a general-purpose back-end code generator and optimiser. C-- is used in GHC.
He was also a major contributor to the 1999 book Cybernauts Awake which explored the ethical and spiritual implications of the Internet.
In 2004 he was inducted as a Fellow
of the Association for Computing Machinery
.
In 2011, he and Simon Marlow were awarded the SIGPLAN Programming Languages Software Award for their work on GHC.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
who researches the implementation
Implementation
Implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy.-Computer Science:...
and applications
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
of functional programming languages, particularly lazy functional languages
Lazy evaluation
In programming language theory, lazy evaluation or call-by-need is an evaluation strategy which delays the evaluation of an expression until the value of this is actually required and which also avoids repeated evaluations...
. He is an honorary Professor of Computer Science at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
and supervises PhD Students at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
History
Peyton Jones graduated from Trinity College, CambridgeTrinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
in 1980, and worked in industry for two years before serving as a lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
and (from 1990–1998) as a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
. Since 1998 he has worked as a researcher at Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
in Cambridge, England. He is married to Dorothy, a priest in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, and they have three children..
He is a major contributor to the design of the Haskell
Haskell (programming language)
Haskell is a standardized, general-purpose purely functional programming language, with non-strict semantics and strong static typing. It is named after logician Haskell Curry. In Haskell, "a function is a first-class citizen" of the programming language. As a functional programming language, the...
programming language, and a contributor of the Glasgow Haskell Compiler
Glasgow Haskell Compiler
The Glorious Glasgow Haskell Compilation System, more commonly known as the Glasgow Haskell Compiler or GHC, is an open source native code compiler for the functional programming language Haskell. The lead developers are Simon Peyton Jones and Simon Marlow...
(GHC). He is also co-creator of the programming language, designed for intermediate program representation between the language-specific front-end of a compiler and a general-purpose back-end code generator and optimiser. C-- is used in GHC.
He was also a major contributor to the 1999 book Cybernauts Awake which explored the ethical and spiritual implications of the Internet.
In 2004 he was inducted as a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
.
In 2011, he and Simon Marlow were awarded the SIGPLAN Programming Languages Software Award for their work on GHC.
External links
- Simon Peyton Jones' home page
- Biographical article
- "A Taste of Haskell I"; "A Taste of Haskell II" This is a two-part video of a talk in which Peyton Jones explains Haskell to (non-functional) programmers, given at the OSCONO'Reilly Open Source ConventionThe O'Reilly Open Source Convention is an annual convention for the discussion of free and open source software. It is organized by the publisher O'Reilly Media and is held each summer in the United States.-Notable events:...
2007 conference. See also the slides projected during the presentation. Links to other expository videos of Peyton Jones can be found on the Haskell wiki video page. - SE-Radio Podcast with Simon Peyton Jones
- Computerworld Interview with Simon Peyton Jones