Graham Hutton

Professor of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham

Co-leader of the Functional Programming Lab

My research interests are in the mathematics of program construction. The aim of my research is to develop simple but powerful techniques for writing and reasoning about computer programs, by recognising and exploiting their underlying mathematical structure. Most of my work takes place in the context of functional languages such as Haskell, Agda and Coq.

I'm director of the Midlands Graduate School, board member of the Haskell Foundation, an editor of the Journal of Functional Programming, and an ACM Distinguished Scientist. I've also served as vice-chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on Programming Languages and steering committee chair of the International Conference on Functional Programming.

Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better. -- Edsger Dijkstra

Current work:

Recent work:

Calculating compilers for concurrency (ICFP 2023)
Subtyping without reduction (MPC 2022)
Monadic compiler calculation (ICFP 2022)
Podcast for the Haskell Foundation (HF 2021)
Calculating dependently-typed compilers (ICFP 2021)
Calculating correct compilers II: return of the register machines (JFP 2020)
Liquidate your assets: reasoning about resource usage in Liquid Haskell (POPL 2020)
Call-by-need is clairvoyant call-by-value (ICFP 2019)

Activities

Current activities:

Director, Midlands Graduate School, 2023-date
Board member, Haskell Foundation, 2022-date
Editor, Journal of Functional Programming, 2014-date
Co-editor, JFP Special Issue on Program Calculation, 2023-2024.
Program co-chair, Functional Software Architecture - FP in the Large, Seattle, 2023.
Program committee, Haskell Symposium, Seattle, 2023
Editorial board, ACM International Conference Proceedings Series, 2011-date
Award committee, ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Eductator Award, 2021-2024
Advisory board, EPSRC Network on Model Driven Engineering, 2022-date
Steering committee, Mathematics of Program Construction, 2017-date.
Member, IFIP Working Group 2.1 on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi, 2004-date
Member, EPSRC Peer Review College, 2006-date

Recent activities:

Vice-chair, ACM Special Interest Group on Programming Languages, 2009-2012
Co-organiser, Midlands Graduate School, Nottingham, 2018
Program chair, Mathematics of Program Construction, Porto, 2019
Program committee, International Conference on Functional Programming, Ljubljana, 2022
Program committee, Haskell Symposium, New Jersey, 2020
Program committee, Haskell Symposium, St Louis, 2018
Program committee, International Conference on Functional Programming, Oxford, 2017
Steering committee chair, International Conference on Functional Programming, 2010-2012
Steering committee, Principles of Programming Languages, 2009-2015
Steering committee, Programming Language Design and Implementation, 2009-2015
External examiner, University of Sheffield, 2015-2019
External examiner, University of Glasgow, 2013-2017
External examiner, University of Birmingham, 2010-2013
External examiner, University of York, 2008-2012

Publications

A list of publications, bibtex entries, and citations, is available, or you can select below:

Quotient Haskell: lightweight quotient types for all
HoTT operads
Programming language semantics: it's easy as 1,2,3
Calculating compilers for concurrency (ICFP 2023)
Subtyping without reduction (MPC 2022)
Monadic compiler calculation (ICFP 2022)
Calculating dependently-typed compilers (ICFP 2021)
Calculating correct compilers II: return of the register machines (JFP 2020)
Pre-ordered metric spaces for program improvement (2020)
Liquidate your assets: reasoning about resource usage in Liquid Haskell (POPL 2020)
Proceedings of the MPC conference (MPC 2019);
Call-by-need is clairvoyant call-by-value (ICFP 2019)
Theorem proving for all: equational reasoning in Liquid Haskell (HASKELL 2018)
AutoBench: comparing the time performance of Haskell programs (HASKELL 2018)
Parametric polymorphism and operational improvement (ICFP 2018)
Improving Haskell (TFP 2018)
Compiling a 50-year journey (JFP 2017)
Failing faster: overlapping patterns for property-based testing (PADL 2017)
Programming in Haskell (CUP 2016)
Contractive functions on infinite data structures (IFL 2016)
Cutting out continuations (WF 2016)
Calculating correct compilers (JFP 2015)
Programs for cheap! (LICS 2015)
Towards a theory of reach (TFP 2015)
Worker/wrapper/makes it/faster (ICFP 2014)
Work it, wrap it, fix it, fold it (JFP 2014)
The under-performing unfold (IFL 2013)
Compilation à la carte (IFL 2013)
Representing contractive functions on streams (2011)
Towards modular compilers for effects (TFP 2011)
Factorising folds for faster functions (JFP 2010)
Compiling concurrency correctly: cutting out the middle man (TFP 2009)
The worker/wrapper transformation (JFP 2009)
Modularity and implementation of mathematical operational semantics (MSFP 2008)
Towards a verified implementation of software transactional memory (TFP 2008)
Reasoning about effects: seeing the wood through the trees (TFP 2008)
What is the meaning of these constant interruptions? (JFP 2007)
Programming in Haskell (CUP 2007)
Compact fusion (MSFP 2006)
Accurate step counting (IFL 2005)
Report on the BCTCS colloquium (BCTCS 2005)
Proof methods for corecursive programs (FI 2005)
Calculating an exceptional machine (TFP 2004)
Compiling exceptions correctly (MPC 2004)
Proceedings of the APPSEM workshop (APPSEM 2003)
The countdown problem (JFP 2002)
Special double issue on Haskell (JFP 2002)
The generic approximation lemma (IPL 2001)
When is a function a fold or an unfold? (CMCS 2001)
Proceedings of the Haskell workshop (HASKELL 2000)
Proof methods for structured corecursive programs (SFPW 1999)
A tutorial on the universality and expressiveness of fold (JFP 1999)
Fold and unfold for program semantics (ICFP 1998)
Monadic parsing in Haskell (JFP 1998)
Monadic parser combinators (1996)
Back to basics: deriving representation changers functionally (JFP 1996)
Bananas in space: extending fold and unfold to exponential types (FPCA 1995)
Categories, allegories, and circuit design (LICS 1994)
The Ruby interpreter (1993)
A relational derivation of a functional program (STOP 1992)
Between functions and relations in calculating programs (1992)
Higher-order functions for parsing (JFP 1992)
A calculational theory of pers as types (1992)
Making functionality more general (GWFP 1992)
Functional programming with relations (GWFP 1991)
Parsing using combinators (GWFP 1990)

Videos

YouTube channel:

@haskellhutt

Teaching videos:

Computerphile videos:

Teaching

Current teaching:

Functional programming (1st year course)
Advanced functional programming (2nd year course)

Previous teaching:

Introduction to category theory (postgraduate course)
Introduction to domain theory (postgraduate course)
Principles of programming languages (3rd year course)
Concepts of concurrency (2nd year course)

People

Research fellows:

Jennifer Hackett, Unified Reasoning About Program Correctness and Efficiency, 2016-2021
Nils Anders Danielsson, Reasoning About Exceptions and Interrupts, 2007-2010
Joel Wright, Compiler Correctness, 2005

Current PhD students:

Zachariah Garby, Program Synthesis, from October 2023
Brandon Hewer, Practical Applications of HoTT, from October 2019
Mitchell Pickard, Well-Typed Compiler Calculation, from October 2019

Former PhD students:

Martin Handley, Efficiency Three Ways: Tested, Verified, and Formalised, 2020
Jonathan Fowler, Narrowing in on Property-Based Testing, 2019
Jennifer Hackett, The Worker/Wrapper Transformation, 2017
Ambrus Kaposi, Type Theory in a Type Theory with Quotient Inductive Types, 2016
Laurence Day, The Modular Compilation of Effects, 2015
Liyang Hu, Compiling Concurrency Correctly, 2012
Mauro Jaskelioff, Lifting of Operations in Modular Monadic Semantics, 2009
Catherine Hope, A Functional Semantics for Space and Time, 2008
Joel Wright, Compiling and Reasoning about Exceptions and Interrupts, 2005
Paul Blampied, Structured Recursion for Non-Uniform Data-Types, 2000
Anthony Daniels, A Semantics of Functions and Behaviours, 1999
Colin Taylor, Formalising and Reasoning about Fudgets, 1998

Projects

The 'mind the gap' project was featured in impact magazine.

Mind the Gap: Unified Reasoning About Program Correctness and Efficiency
Principal investigator, EPSRC, £411,000, 2016-2021
Reasoning About Exceptions and Interrupts
Principal investigator, EPSRC, £306,000, 2007-2010
Midlands Graduate School in the Foundations of Computing Science (2, 3)
Lead investigator, EPSRC, £39,000, 2007-2009
British Colloquium for Theoretical Computer Science
Co-investigator, EPSRC, £65,000, 2008-2010
British Colloquium for Theoretical Computer Science
Co-investigator, EPSRC, £24,000, 2005-2007
IST Working Group on Applied Semantics II
Site leader, £250,000, 2003-2006
Concurrent Haskell
Principal investigator, Microsoft Research, £25,000, 2001-2004
ESPRIT Working Group on Applied Semantics
Site leader, £190,000, 1998-2002
Structured Recursive Programming
Principal investigator, EPSRC, £11,000, 1997-2000

Personal

I'm from Glasgow in Scotland, and received a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Glasgow. I then spent a few years in Gothenburg and Utrecht, before moving to Nottingham where I am Professor of Computer Science. I'm married to the lovely Annette, and we have two grown up sons. In my spare time I enjoy cars, cooking, and restoring our house.

Contact

If you are a student or PhD applicant, please read these notes before sending me an email.

Twitter: @haskellhutt

YouTube: @haskellhutt

Email: graham.hutton@nottingham.ac.uk

Phone: I don't have an office phone and my university number is inactive

Address: Professor Graham Hutton
School of Computer Science
University of Nottingham
Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road
Nottingham NG8 1BB
United Kingdom

Twitter:	@haskellhutt
YouTube:	@haskellhutt
Email:	graham.hutton@nottingham.ac.uk
Phone:	I don't have an office phone and my university number is inactive
Address:	Professor Graham Hutton School of Computer Science University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road Nottingham NG8 1BB United Kingdom