SPLASH

It is my pleasure to welcome you to SPLASH, the next step in the evolution of the well-known OOPSLA conference. SPLASH is the premier forum for practitioners, researchers, educators, and students who are passionate about improving the state of the art and practice in the development of software systems and applications through improved programming tools and languages.

SPLASH is a new name for the overall OOPSLA conference, which includes workshops, panels, tutorials, co-located conferences, posters, and a doctoral symposium. The OOPSLA name is being retained for the technical research track that is the core of SPLASH. It would have been easier to just rename OOPSLA to be SPLASH, but that would lose continuity with the strong OOPSLA brand. As a result, we have adopted a phased approach where both names will be used for the foreseeable future.

Although SPLASH/OOPSLA has its origin in object technologies, SPLASH is no longer explicitly tied to object-oriented programming. There is an implicit connection, however, since most modern software development incorporates or builds on ideas from object-oriented programming. From its inception, OOPSLA has incubated new technologies and practices. Dynamic compilation and optimization, software patterns, refactoring, aspect-oriented software development, agile methods, service-oriented architectures, and model-driven development (to name just a few) all have roots in OOPSLA. SPLASH 2010 continues and strengthens this tradition. SPLASH has as its foundation the most successful software development theories and practices, yet is always striving to find new and better techniques which will define the future of software development.

SPLASH is pleased to host a range of co-located conferences. Onward! is more radical, more visionary, and more open to new ideas, allowing it to accept papers that present strong arguments even though the ideas in the paper may not be fully proven. The Dynamic Languages Symposium (DLS) discusses dynamic languages, including scripting languages. The Pattern Languages of Programming (PLoP) conference explores patterns of software and effective ways to present them. The International Lisp Conference (ILC) is focused on Lisp, a language with a great history and future. The Educators' and Trainer's Symposium and Doctoral Symposium focus on the essential task of educating the next generation of software developers and researchers.

In the end, SPLASH is about people, not technology. While SPLASH inherits SPLA from OOPSLA, it adds a new twist on the end: Software for Humanity. While this may seem an afterthought, I have come to realize over the last year that it is the most important idea in the new name. Our community is strong and diverse. Even as we promote diverse technologies, we share deep values that enable us to work together. One is the simple idea that software can improve the daily lives of humans all around the planet. Like any technology, software has the potential for great benefit and also great harm. Let's try to use it for good.