Dear OCaml-list,

This is a job opportunity for an ML programmer, and may be of particular interest to those who love compiler development for functional languages.

Thanks

Don

Contract position in compiler development

Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK

MSR Cambridge has available a 6 month contract position in applied language design, optimization and compiler development optimization for work on the F# project.  F# is a variant of the ML functional programming language with core subset essentially compatible with the core of the OCaml language, along with a compiler and tools for the .NET platform and Visual Studio.  It is specifically designed to facilitate cooperation between ML code and other .NET languages such as C# and can be downloaded from http://research.microsoft.com/downloads. F# is also being used by several projects within Microsoft and Microsoft Research.  More information on F# can be found at http://research.microsoft.com/projects/fsharp.

We are looking for candidates with some or all of the following qualifications:

• MS. or Ph.D. in Computer Science
• Strong applied ML or functional programming skills, in Standard ML, OCaml, F# or Haskell.  Some experience with C++ is also required.
• Knowledge of algorithms and techniques from compilers, including experience with the design and implementation of inference-based type systems
• Good communication and inter-personal skills
• Leadership and cross-team collaboration skills, including a desire to work with Microsoft product teams and external partners in training them in the use of the language and tools.
• 2 years of industrial experience, including the ability to self-manage through the progressive release of stable versions of a product
• A strong desire to ensure that mixed functional/imperative programming is a viable reality on the .NET platform
• Excitement at the potential that the libraries and tools of the .NET Framework and Visual Studio offer to niche programming languages

This position will be tailored according to the skills of the candidate, but will include key activities such as the following: 

· Maintaining the language and runtime infrastructure

o Fixing bugs in the F# code base

o Implementing new features in F#, including the Visual Studio tools for F#

o Responding to customer feature requests

o Improving the performance of programs compiled with F#

· Technology transfer from Microsoft Research

o Working with key F# customers within Microsoft Research and the product divisions

The candidate must be willing to work in Cambridge and travel as needed to the Seattle area and elsewhere.

Applications should be sent to Alex Reed  (alreed@microsoft.com)

F# is a contribution by Microsoft Research to ensure that a strong ML-like symbolic programming language is available in the context of .NET.  Our group has a strong track record of positively influencing the design and implementation of Microsoft’s programming languages and platforms.  As such this position offers the candidate the chance to make a major contribution to how future developers write programs and to the quality of the software that we all use, both directly through ML as a language and indirectly through the research agenda of the academic community from which it stems.