Manuel Serrano

Manuel Serrano is a senior research scientist at Inria (French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation) affiliated with University of Côte d'Azur, based at the Sophia Antipolis research center in the indes team. He has been active in the programming languages research community since at least 2000, serving in numerous leadership roles across major conferences.

His research focuses on programming languages, particularly JavaScript and Scheme implementations, compiler design for dynamic languages, web programming, and synchronous reactive programming. His work bridges theoretical language design with practical implementation concerns, with a strong emphasis on performance optimization of dynamic languages. He has made significant contributions to the understanding and improvement of JavaScript compilation techniques, particularly through his work on ahead-of-time compilation.

His publication record shows consistent output in top venues including PLDI, OOPSLA, ICFP, and ECOOP, with a recent focus on JavaScript optimization, sealed classes, type system verification, and synchronous reactive programming through his HipHop.js language. His work demonstrates a progression from foundational Scheme compilation (Bigloo) to modern web technologies and JavaScript optimization.

He has served as General Chair for the Programming conference in 2018, Program Co-Chair for Programming 2024-2025, and is currently serving as PC Chair for ICFP 2026. His conference service spans over two decades across numerous programming language venues including ICFP, SPLASH, ECOOP, and specialized workshops on Scheme and dynamic languages.

As a creator of multiple programming tools and languages, he has developed Bigloo (an optimizing Scheme compiler), Hop (a language for web 2.0 programming), HipHop (an asynchronous programming language), and Flyspell (an on-the-fly Emacs spell checker). His Cold project with University of Montreal focuses on compilation and optimization techniques for dynamic languages like JavaScript and Python.