thedixitjain PLDI Topic Selection
PLDI's scope statement is broad — all aspects of programming language research: design, implementation, theory, applications, performance (PLDI 2026 CFP) — but its acceptance bar has a recognizable shape: an idea about languages, compilers, analyses, runtimes, or verification tooling whose truth is demonstrated by a working implementation evaluated on convincing programs. The routing question is never "is this PL?"; it is "is the decisive evidence an implementation-and-benchmarks story?"
The fit test
Answer three questions honestly:
- Where does the claim's proof live? In a theorem about a calculus → POPL lens. In measurements of a built system → PLDI lens. In how developers experience the language → OOPSLA lens.
- Who must be convinced? People who build compilers and analyzers → PLDI. People who prove type soundness → POPL. People who study software at scale → ICSE/FSE.
- Would the paper survive with the implementation deleted? If yes, the implementation is decoration and PLDI reviewers will say so.
Routing table
| Signal in your project | Better home | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The theorem is the contribution; implementation is a demo | POPL | Semantics-first reviewing |
| Language design + experience/empirical study of use | OOPSLA | Broader evidence styles welcomed |
| Functional-programming technique, typed abstractions | ICFP | Paradigm-native audience |
| Wins depend on hardware features or memory hierarchy | ASPLOS / CGO / PPoPP | Architecture-facing evidence bar |
| The engine is a solver/model checker advance | CAV / TACAS | Verification-algorithms community |
| Claim is about developer behavior or SE process | ICSE / FSE | Human/process evidence expected |
| OS-level mechanism, scheduler, distributed runtime | OSDI / SOSP | Systems reviewing |
| Early idea, no evaluation yet | SIGPLAN workshops (co-located each June) | Feedback without the archival bar |
Note the family plumbing: POPL, OOPSLA, ICFP, and (since 2023) PLDI all publish in PACMPL, so the choice among them changes reviewers and deadlines, not the journal your paper lands in. Retargeting within the family is cheap editorially — the CFP formats are all acmart — but expensive intellectually if the evidence style does not move with it.
PLDI-shaped in practice
The venue-verified exemplars in resources/exemplars/library.md triangulate the
bar: an automated testing engine on real C code (DART), instrumentation
infrastructure with its design space articulated (Valgrind), a multi-year
empirical campaign against production compilers (Csmith), a DSL whose compiler
proves a named trade-off space (Halide), and proof-engineering tooling with a
badged artifact (Sisyphus). Common denominator: the system is the argument.
Decision procedure
1. Write the one-sentence claim. Underline its verb.
2. If the verb is "we prove" -> POPL unless benchmarks carry equal weight.
3. If the verb is "we measure/build" -> PLDI candidate; check benchmark rigor is achievable by November.
4. If the verb is "we observe/design" -> OOPSLA/ICFP comparison first.
5. Confirm the June-audience test: would a PLDI hallway care?
6. Check the calendar: PLDI's single deadline (Nov) vs POPL (~Jul) vs OOPSLA rounds.
7. Commit; retrofit the framing to the chosen venue, never to two at once.
Deadline-driven routing — sending a POPL-shaped theory paper to PLDI because November is closer — produces the characteristic "strong work, wrong evidence" reject and burns a year.
Output format
[Fit] High / Medium / Low, one line
[Claim verb] prove / build / measure / design / observe
[Evidence home] theorem / implementation+benchmarks / study
[Family alternative] POPL / OOPSLA / ICFP, with the switch cost
[Outside routing] ASPLOS / CAV / ICSE / systems venue if applicable
[Calendar] next feasible deadline, from live pages (PLDI 2027: 待核实)
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → PLDI-Skills/skills/pldi-topic-selection/SKILL.md