Programming languages are more than just tools for expressing computation—they shape how we design, reason about, and build software systems. In this keynote, I will begin with a brief overview of my research journey in programming language (PL) design, which has shaped my conviction that programming language design is a foundational force in computer science. By enabling the automation of intricate software concerns and ensuring correctness through built-in guarantees, well-designed languages address recurring challenges and enforce critical properties automatically.

To illustrate this thesis, I will briefly present my ongoing work on REScala, a programming system for local-first applications. REScala demonstrates how embedding advanced concepts—such as time-varying behavior, distributed consistency, and formal reasoning—directly into the language can automate complex aspects of application development and, crucially, increase the level of application-level correctness that can be guaranteed by design. In the second part of the talk, I will reflect on the thesis that PL design automates development aspects, especially in light of recent advances in AI-based software development and claims that programming as we know it may become obsolete and that the “next programming language is English.” I will critically examine these assertions and consider the enduring role of PL and software engineering research in a future where AI plays an increasingly central role in software creation.

I look forward to sharing these ideas and engaging in a discussion about how thoughtful PL design can continue to ensure both developer productivity and software correctness, as the landscape of software engineering evolves.

I am a Professor of Computer Science at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.

My research focuses on software development paradigms and tools.

On the paradigms side, I develop programming languages to enable the visions of “software as a service (SaaS)” and “software product-lines” by providing large-scale module concepts with built-in support for adaptability and extensibility.

On the tools side, I work on intelligent software-development environments that guide developers to increase the development productivity and the software quality. Such environment leverage web-based resources to automatically generate and recommend established programming rules and patterns; they also enable architects to explicitly specify such patterns to be enforced during development.

I have (co)authored over 100 scientific publications in renowned publication venues in software engineering and programming languages. I regularly serve on steering committees, program committees, and editorial boards of top tier conferences and journals in software engineering and programming languages.