[PRL] counting papers

[Matthias Felleisen]

Moshe V sent me this link

   http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/Tmp/parnas-viewpoint.pdf

to a CACM Viewpoint (op ed) because he remembered me arguing against  
hiring candidates who had published too many papers. I have been  
doing this here, too, and people have asked me why. I think that  
David Parnas hits the nail on the head with his column and you should  
take it to heart.

;; ---

For our PRL students:  read it and weep, because hiring committees  
often count. Also weep because publishing one solid paper on your  
dissertation just doesn't cut it. As much as I agree with Parnas, I  
also know that some pieces of work have distinct projections onto  
distinct research communities. Since it is likely, for example, that  
SE researchers re-discover and re-sell an idea from PL, it is your  
responsibility to yourself to project your PL work along those  
dimensions and in their venues. Similarly, PL theoreticians tend to  
hack beautiful SE ideas to death. If you are in SE, it is your duty  
to learn how to communicate your results to the PL community directly  
and in a respectable manner. The preceding sentences are meant to be  
illustrative not exclusive. SE & PL are just the two areas that we  
are involved in most.

Enjoy now. -- Matthias