steven dot ganz at genetius dot com

Areas of Interest
Programming Languages
Fundamentally, I am interested in semantics: ways of expressing 
meaning in language and ways of drawing meaning out of language. 
With programming languages, we have the advantage of being able 
to design the rules ourselves. Various paradigms (functional, logical, 
object-oriented, multithreaded) can be applied, together or separately, 
in expressing problems and their solutions.  Transformations between 
paradigms can be used both to define and to implement the intended 
semantics. Indeed, abstractions appropriate for defining program 
transformations comprise important language features. I am interested 
in modular representations of language (by feature) and in 
encapsulation constructs that aid in the static analysis of programs. 
The ambiguity associated with natural languages offers both greater 
challenges and greater rewards.
Publications
Trampolining Architectures, with Daniel P. Friedman,
presented at the Festschrift and Symposium in Honor of
Mitchell Wand, August 23, 2009, Boston MA.
PDF, Slides PDF, Programs.

Analyzes the extent to which the monadic underpinnings of trampolining, 
a translation that supports multithreaded applications, are able to 
withstand a more diverse set of systems offering additional power and 
efficiency.

Encapsulation of State with Monad Transformers,
Ph.D. Disseration, Indiana University Department of Computer 
Science. 
Abstract PDF, Defense Slides PS, Defense Slides PDF, 
Dissertation PS, Dissertation PDF.

Models the containment of state operations within parts of a
program using constructs from category theory. Both the
dynamic monadic language and its type system use relative
addressing of regions.

Macros as Multi-Stage Computations: Type-Safe, Generative, 
Binding Macros in MacroML,
 with Amr Sabry and Walid Taha,
 presented at the International Conference on Functional
 Programming, 
 September 3-5, 2001, Florence, Italy. 
PDF, Slides (PS), Slides (PDF).

Demonstrates a significantly expressive macro system that allows 
for static checking of type safety. Macro applications take the
syntactic form of existing language constructs (including binding 
constructs); their semantics is modified.


An Object Encoding For SelfType,
 with Daniel P. Friedman, presented at the Midwest Society for
 Programming Languages and Systems, December 9, 2000,
 Chicago, IL, also Indiana University Computer Science 
Department Technical Report #554.
PDF, Slideshow.

Encodes in standard type theory an object-oriented programming
construct that allows types as well as programs to refer to this.

A Modular Monadic Interpreter In Scheme With Objects,
 with Daniel P. Friedman, Indiana University Computer 
Science Department Technical Report #553, October 2000.
PDF, code.

Demonstrates an interpreter that uses monad transformers to 
provide a modular structure based on features of the interpreted 
language.  In the process it provides an interesting use of 
metaobjects.

Trampolined Style,
 with Daniel P. Friedman and Mitchell Wand, presented at the 
International Conference on Functional Programming, 
September 27-29, 1999, Paris, France.
PS, PDF, Slideshow.
Formalizes a technique for writing multithreaded programs so 
as to clarify its connection with continuation-passing style.

Interleaving is Possible with Refined Abstract Machines:
 A New Approach to Engineering a Compiler,
 with Daniel P. Friedman, Indiana University Computer 
 Science Department Technical Report #547, June 1998.
PS, PDF.
Presents a multi-stage compiler, each stage corresponding to an
abstract machine, such that high-level code can be run on any
lower-level machine. This is similar to the notion of just-in-time 
compilation.


 (Note: these may be slightly modified from the original versions)
Artificial Intelligence
Knowledge Representation
Philosophy of Mind
Professional Associations 





Education
Indiana University, Bloomington
Ph.D. in Computer Science
 (Programming Languages),
 Advisor: Daniel P. Friedman, December, 2006.
M.S. in Computer Science, September, 1997.

The Management & Technology program at University of Pennsylvania
B.S.E. in Computer Science Engineering, 1989. 
B.S. in Economics in Operations and Information Management/
 Accounting, 1989. 

Personal Interests
My wife, Rochelle, 
an expert on Japanese business culture 

Hiking/Backpacking

Skiing

White Water Canoeing

Hash House Harriers International Running Club

Causes