[Jean Yang](http://jeanyang.com/) is a renowned computer scientist who contributed significantly to the field of programming language research during her tenure as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). She made notable contributions to the design and implementation of programming languages, focusing on enhancing their flexibility, security, and usability. Yang's research interests encompassed a wide range of topics, including: 2. **Programming Language Design:** She explored novel programming language constructs and paradigms to address the evolving challenges of software development. 4. **Programming Language Implementation:** She delved into the intricacies of programming language compilers and runtime systems, optimizing their performance and efficiency. 6. **Programming Language Security:** She investigated techniques to prevent and mitigate security vulnerabilities in programming languages, promoting safer software development practices. 8. **Programming Language Usability:** She championed the development of programming languages that were more intuitive and user-friendly, empowering a broader range of developers. Yang's contributions to programming language research were recognized through numerous awards and honors, including: 2. **ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Award (2010):** For her work on "Safe to the Last Instruction: Automated Verification of a Type-Safe Operating System" 4. **ACM SIGPLAN Programming Languages Mentoring Award (2015):** For her outstanding mentorship of junior researchers in programming languages 6. **ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Service Award (2018):** For her significant contributions to the programming languages community Yang's legacy in programming language research is evident in the numerous research papers she authored, the students she mentored, and the impact her work has had on the field. Her contributions have helped shape the design, implementation, and use of programming languages, making software development more secure, reliable, and accessible. Here are some specific examples of Yang's notable contributions: 2. **Jeeves Programming Language:** She led the development of [[Jeeves]], a programming language designed for teaching and learning about programming language concepts. 4. **Precise, Dynamic Information Flow for Database-Backed Applications:** She co-authored a paper on a new approach to information flow control for database-backed applications. 6. **Faceted Execution of Policy-Agnostic Programs:** She co-authored a paper on a new technique for enforcing security policies in programming languages. Yang's work has had a profound impact on the field of programming language research, and her contributions continue to inspire and inform researchers today. Her dedication to advancing programming languages has helped shape the way we write and develop software, making it more secure, reliable, and accessible for all. # On the topic of ePBF everywhere Jean Yang is the Head of Product Observability of [[Postman]]. She presented in the video: [[@VisionEBPFEverywhere2023|A vision for eBPF Everywhere]]. In her talk, Jean Yang discusses the challenges of observability in modern software systems and how eBPF can be used to solve these problems. She also talks about the work that Akita is doing to make eBPF more accessible to developers. Here are some key takeaways from her talk: - **Observability is a critical problem for modern software systems.** Many software teams do not have a good understanding of their systems, and this can make it difficult to troubleshoot problems. - **Existing observability tools are not easy to use and require a lot of manual configuration.** This can make it difficult for developers to adopt these tools. - **eBPF is a powerful tool that can be used to collect data about any part of a system.** It is also easy to use and does not require any manual configuration. - **Akita is building a DX observability platform that uses eBPF to collect data about API traffic.** Akita is also building algorithms to analyze the eBPF data so that it can be presented to developers in a way that is easy to understand. - **eBPF has the potential to make observability easier and more accessible to all developers.** Overall, Jean Yang's talk is a great introduction to eBPF and its potential for observability. If you are interested in learning more about eBPF, I encourage you to watch her talk. # References ```dataview Table title as Title, authors as Authors where contains(authors, "Jean Yang") ```