Professor David Watt

I am Professor of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. I am also Visiting Professor in Information Technology & Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland.

Academic Management

I chair the University of Glasgow's Academic Standards Committee, whose remit is quality assurance and enhancement, academic standards, and regulations for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, This remit extends not only across the University's three campuses but also to its four associated and accredited institutions.

I am also a member of the University's Education Policy & Strategy Committee. I am actively involved in educational policy developments, including assessment, the academic year, programme and course structures, and related information systems.

Teaching

I currently teach the following courses:

External Examining

Currently I am external examiner for the following degree programme:
University of Kent, BSc in Computer Science, 2004-07

Research

My research area is programming languages. I advocate an integrated approach to the design, specification, and implementation of programming languages.

My current research seeks to achieve a synthesis between scripting languages and conventional programming languages. Current scripting languages tend to be characterized by very high-level functionality, dynamic typing, and a lightweight development cycle, while current programming languages tend to be characterized by medium-level functionality, static typing, and a heavyweight development cycle. Programming languages and scripting languages are not fundamentally different, but reside at opposite ends of a spectrum. I aim to design a broad-spectrum language that meets the needs of both scripters and conventional programmers. A fundamental research issue is the seamless integration of statric and dynamic typing, which I call flexible typing. I started this research while on sabbatical at the University of Queensland.

Interests

My extra-curricular interests include chess, running, cycling, science, history, and politics.

Professor David A Watt

Department of Computing Science
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland

Tel: +44 141 330 4470
Fax: +44 141 330 4913