The SEN symposium and VERSEN are closely intertwined. But SEN came first, says CWI researcher Jurgen Vinju, who is part of the SWAT (Software Analysis and Transformation) group and was involved in the creation of both the symposium and the Association for Software Engineering in the Netherlands. “Everyone in the field knew each other, but we were all operating in our own niches. There was no mechanism for meeting each other in a structured way. That is how the SEN symposium started, in 2014, funded by CWI. It was the beginning of the VERSEN community.”
Competing for funding
SEN was an opportunity to bring everyone together, Vinju says. “Software engineering is a complex field in which many different lines of thought come together. Within that field, researchers tackle the same problem from different angles: one focuses on people or requirements, another looks at programming languages, and someone else approaches the problem from the perspective of architecture. As a result, the field can easily fragment into different methods and scientific approaches. People naturally drift in different directions. That is why VERSEN was founded: to bring us back to what unites us, which is software.”
The question is not only what the solution is, Vinju continues, but above all what the problem actually is. “That means you compete less for the same pool of funding and are more likely to work together on the same problem from different perspectives. That creates more cross-fertilization. The different approaches can test and reinforce one another, rather than crowding each other out.”
Lobbying
VERSEN is facilitated by CWI, which provides the secretary-treasurer, and it brings together around thirty professors from the software engineering community. Vinju: “What is remarkable is that everyone immediately made room for one another within a single association. Different views on the future of software were set aside. On top of that, all the universities contributed to the organisation, as did CWI.”
By now, VERSEN organizes between twelve and fifteen events each year for software engineers. These are mainly smaller gatherings: courses and workshops on topics such as applying for grants, supervizing, giving feedback, and programming languages. “The organization has matured. We have also started lobbying at national level on behalf of the entire field by drafting a joint manifesto. That gives you a single voice and makes it easier to be heard.” At present, an application for NWO funding is being prepared, to which SWAT group leader Tijs van der Storm has also contributed.
“The success of SEN? You have to be open to people who want to join and work together. It spreads like an oil slick. That collaboration between all those different gene pools has become part of our DNA,” Vinju says. And that is badly needed: “Otherwise, you may end up developing very beautiful software, but still the wrong software.”
