Harnessing error-prone chips
New system would allow programmers to easily trade computational accuracy for energy savings.
Self-completing programs
A system that automatically fills in the gaps in programmers’ code becomes more powerful.
Building disaster-relief phone apps on the fly
Researchers combine powerful new Web standards with the intuitive, graphical MIT App Inventor to aid relief workers with little programming expertise.
Writing programs using ordinary language
Systems that can convert written specifications into working code in a few narrow cases could be generalized to other tasks.
How computers can learn better
With a recently released programming framework, researchers show that a new machine-learning algorithm outperforms its predecessors.
Life in BASIC
Nick Montfort and colleagues examine cultural significance of computer code in new book.
Making Web applications more efficient
A new system that automatically streamlines database access patterns can make large Web applications up to three times as fast.
Writing graphics software gets much easier
A new programming language for image-processing algorithms yields code that’s much shorter and clearer — but also faster.
Excel programming for nonprogrammers
A new system allows Excel users to create customized functions for their spreadsheets simply by offering a few examples of how data should be manipulated.
An oracle for object-oriented programmers
By automatically cataloging connections between software 'objects,' a new system orients programmers joining large software projects in midstream.
Machines that learn better
New math will make it much easier to build machine-learning systems that tackle a wider range of problems.