Neil Walkinshaw
@neilwalkinshaw.bsky.social
Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield. Researcher interests in software analysis and testing, and their links to causal reasoning and ML.
The Causal Testing Framework (CTF), which enables the use of Causal Inference to test properties in software, is now available on Conda-Forge!
anaconda.org/conda-forge/...
anaconda.org/conda-forge/...
Causal Testing Framework | Anaconda.org
anaconda.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:24 PM
The Causal Testing Framework (CTF), which enables the use of Causal Inference to test properties in software, is now available on Conda-Forge!
anaconda.org/conda-forge/...
anaconda.org/conda-forge/...
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
Lottery before peer review is associated with increased female representation and reduced estimated economic cost in a German funding line https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65660-9
New from @rmrahal and colleagues
Funder was German Foundation for […]
[Original post on mastodon.online]
New from @rmrahal and colleagues
Funder was German Foundation for […]
[Original post on mastodon.online]
November 11, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Lottery before peer review is associated with increased female representation and reduced estimated economic cost in a German funding line https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65660-9
New from @rmrahal and colleagues
Funder was German Foundation for […]
[Original post on mastodon.online]
New from @rmrahal and colleagues
Funder was German Foundation for […]
[Original post on mastodon.online]
arXiv is now only publishing CS pre-prints that have been accepted after review.
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
I think this is a good thing...
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
I think this is a good thing...
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:47 AM
arXiv is now only publishing CS pre-prints that have been accepted after review.
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
I think this is a good thing...
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
I think this is a good thing...
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
📣 ICST 2026: Call for Research Papers!
The International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST) 2026 call for research-track submissions.
📅 Important Dates:
Abstract Due: Dec 15
Full Paper Due: Dec 22
🔗 Learn More & Submit:
conf.researchr.org/track/icst-2...
The International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST) 2026 call for research-track submissions.
📅 Important Dates:
Abstract Due: Dec 15
Full Paper Due: Dec 22
🔗 Learn More & Submit:
conf.researchr.org/track/icst-2...
ICST 2026 - Research Papers - ICST 2026
The Research Papers track of ICST 2026 invites high-quality submissions in all areas of software testing, verification, and validation. Papers for the research track should present novel and original ...
conf.researchr.org
October 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM
📣 ICST 2026: Call for Research Papers!
The International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST) 2026 call for research-track submissions.
📅 Important Dates:
Abstract Due: Dec 15
Full Paper Due: Dec 22
🔗 Learn More & Submit:
conf.researchr.org/track/icst-2...
The International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST) 2026 call for research-track submissions.
📅 Important Dates:
Abstract Due: Dec 15
Full Paper Due: Dec 22
🔗 Learn More & Submit:
conf.researchr.org/track/icst-2...
I used to have one of these! Love the idea of "modding" an old casio watch! 🔧
You can upgrade a Casio watch with Bluetooth, step counting, and games | The Verge share.google/Zma7UEjgKPfp...
You can upgrade a Casio watch with Bluetooth, step counting, and games | The Verge share.google/Zma7UEjgKPfp...
You can now upgrade a retro Casio watch with Bluetooth, step tracking, and games
Are these iconic Casio digital watches still as desirable with smart features?
share.google
October 1, 2025 at 5:45 AM
I used to have one of these! Love the idea of "modding" an old casio watch! 🔧
You can upgrade a Casio watch with Bluetooth, step counting, and games | The Verge share.google/Zma7UEjgKPfp...
You can upgrade a Casio watch with Bluetooth, step counting, and games | The Verge share.google/Zma7UEjgKPfp...
Developed a pesky running injury. Not looking forward to working through the suggestions illustrated by ChatGPT, especially the straight leg raise...
September 14, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Developed a pesky running injury. Not looking forward to working through the suggestions illustrated by ChatGPT, especially the straight leg raise...
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
New open access book out from our MORPHSS project lead @samuelmoore.org:
"By deploying theoretical literature on science & technology studies, care ethics, & the commons, the book critically interrogates open access & reimagines a more ethical future for researcher-led publishing."
#OA #AHSS
"By deploying theoretical literature on science & technology studies, care ethics, & the commons, the book critically interrogates open access & reimagines a more ethical future for researcher-led publishing."
#OA #AHSS
August 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
New open access book out from our MORPHSS project lead @samuelmoore.org:
"By deploying theoretical literature on science & technology studies, care ethics, & the commons, the book critically interrogates open access & reimagines a more ethical future for researcher-led publishing."
#OA #AHSS
"By deploying theoretical literature on science & technology studies, care ethics, & the commons, the book critically interrogates open access & reimagines a more ethical future for researcher-led publishing."
#OA #AHSS
As with the post office Horizon bug, years of institutional coverup and mismanagement after the bug is exposed. This probably causes more damage than the technical bug itself.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Courts service accused of covering up IT bug that caused evidence to go missing
Sources say judges in courts and tribunals will have made rulings when evidence was incomplete.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 8, 2025 at 8:33 AM
As with the post office Horizon bug, years of institutional coverup and mismanagement after the bug is exposed. This probably causes more damage than the technical bug itself.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
An account of what is possibly the first "monkey tester" (or at least when the term originated) - a program to automatically generate random test inputs. Developed in 1983 to test MacWrite and MacPaint!
www.folklore.org/Monkey_Lives...
www.folklore.org/Monkey_Lives...
Folklore.org: Monkey Lives
www.folklore.org
July 21, 2025 at 2:26 PM
An account of what is possibly the first "monkey tester" (or at least when the term originated) - a program to automatically generate random test inputs. Developed in 1983 to test MacWrite and MacPaint!
www.folklore.org/Monkey_Lives...
www.folklore.org/Monkey_Lives...
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
Tandem's t:connect iOS mobile app that controls monitors the t:slim X2 insulin pump and its battery causes a battery depletion and an unexpected pump shut down. #tandem #insulinpump #iOSapp #tconnect #battery #shutdown #hyperglycemia #recall
www.instagram.com/p/C-s-U3fxxBg/
www.instagram.com/p/C-s-U3fxxBg/
Howard G. Smith MD, AM on Instagram: "A defective iOS (iPhone/iPad) app can rapidly deplete your Tandem insulin pump battery and trigger a dangerous shutdown
The Food and Drug Administration and Tand...
0 likes, 0 comments - drhowardsmithreports on August 15, 2024: "A defective iOS (iPhone/iPad) app can rapidly deplete your Tandem insulin pump battery and trigger a dangerous shutdown
The Food and Dr...
www.instagram.com
August 15, 2024 at 7:48 PM
Tandem's t:connect iOS mobile app that controls monitors the t:slim X2 insulin pump and its battery causes a battery depletion and an unexpected pump shut down. #tandem #insulinpump #iOSapp #tconnect #battery #shutdown #hyperglycemia #recall
www.instagram.com/p/C-s-U3fxxBg/
www.instagram.com/p/C-s-U3fxxBg/
I found this very interesting. Could be interesting to consider a variant of this for research paper submissions to Computer Science conferences, where the ballooning review burden is completely unsustainable.
Would need to devise different measures to prevent misuse though.
Would need to devise different measures to prevent misuse though.
How to speed up peer review: make applicants mark one another
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02090-z
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02090-z
July 10, 2025 at 7:42 AM
I found this very interesting. Could be interesting to consider a variant of this for research paper submissions to Computer Science conferences, where the ballooning review burden is completely unsustainable.
Would need to devise different measures to prevent misuse though.
Would need to devise different measures to prevent misuse though.
An odd licensing approach - hardly going to make Java the obvious teaching choice for higher education in years to come?
www.theregister.com/2025/06/13/j...
www.theregister.com/2025/06/13/j...
UK unis sign up to £10M Oracle Java subscription framework
: Deal includes 'waiver of historic fees'
www.theregister.com
June 14, 2025 at 9:09 PM
An odd licensing approach - hardly going to make Java the obvious teaching choice for higher education in years to come?
www.theregister.com/2025/06/13/j...
www.theregister.com/2025/06/13/j...
AALpy - a very elegant Python library (not by me!) implementing several finite state machine inference algorithms. Includes active and passive approaches, state-merging and observation-table based ones.
github.com/DES-Lab/AALpy
github.com/DES-Lab/AALpy
GitHub - DES-Lab/AALpy: An Automata Learning Library Written in Python
An Automata Learning Library Written in Python. Contribute to DES-Lab/AALpy development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
June 12, 2025 at 8:55 PM
AALpy - a very elegant Python library (not by me!) implementing several finite state machine inference algorithms. Includes active and passive approaches, state-merging and observation-table based ones.
github.com/DES-Lab/AALpy
github.com/DES-Lab/AALpy
Simple visualisations of code "survival" over time: github.com/erikbern/git...
Several groups of students have tried this on a variety of OSS projects. Anecdotally it seems that the "half-life" of the code for a given version is remarkably short! Would welcome pointers to studies on this!
Several groups of students have tried this on a variety of OSS projects. Anecdotally it seems that the "half-life" of the code for a given version is remarkably short! Would welcome pointers to studies on this!
GitHub - erikbern/git-of-theseus: Analyze how a Git repo grows over time
Analyze how a Git repo grows over time. Contribute to erikbern/git-of-theseus development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
June 10, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Simple visualisations of code "survival" over time: github.com/erikbern/git...
Several groups of students have tried this on a variety of OSS projects. Anecdotally it seems that the "half-life" of the code for a given version is remarkably short! Would welcome pointers to studies on this!
Several groups of students have tried this on a variety of OSS projects. Anecdotally it seems that the "half-life" of the code for a given version is remarkably short! Would welcome pointers to studies on this!
Procedures for testing driverless cars (at least the underlying ML) are still effectively in their infancy, so it's interesting that these will be on UK roads so soon. Particularly interested in accountability (moral & legal) when accidents inevitably occur.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK driverless cars unlikely until 2027 - Uber says it's ready now
The previous government had said autonomous vehicles were
www.bbc.co.uk
May 19, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Procedures for testing driverless cars (at least the underlying ML) are still effectively in their infancy, so it's interesting that these will be on UK roads so soon. Particularly interested in accountability (moral & legal) when accidents inevitably occur.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
Blast from the past: "How Do We Trust Our Science Code?"
Most scientific research code is low quality and riddled with bugs, written by people who aren't professional software developers. And we shouldn't expect them to be!
(Written eight years ago, Jesus)
www.hillelwayne.com/post/how-do-...
Most scientific research code is low quality and riddled with bugs, written by people who aren't professional software developers. And we shouldn't expect them to be!
(Written eight years ago, Jesus)
www.hillelwayne.com/post/how-do-...
How Do We Trust Our Science Code?
In 2010 Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff published Growth in a Time of Debt. It’s arguably one of the most influential economics papers of the decade, convincing the IMF to push austerity measures i...
www.hillelwayne.com
May 12, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Blast from the past: "How Do We Trust Our Science Code?"
Most scientific research code is low quality and riddled with bugs, written by people who aren't professional software developers. And we shouldn't expect them to be!
(Written eight years ago, Jesus)
www.hillelwayne.com/post/how-do-...
Most scientific research code is low quality and riddled with bugs, written by people who aren't professional software developers. And we shouldn't expect them to be!
(Written eight years ago, Jesus)
www.hillelwayne.com/post/how-do-...
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
Reminder: I am hiring 1-2 PhD students to research the use of LLMs to augment human-written test suites!
Interested? Apply here: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Reach out if you have questions!
#softwaretesting #softwareengineering #softwaredevelopment #LLM #AI #PHD
Interested? Apply here: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Reach out if you have questions!
#softwaretesting #softwareengineering #softwaredevelopment #LLM #AI #PHD
Vacancies
www.chalmers.se
April 28, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Reminder: I am hiring 1-2 PhD students to research the use of LLMs to augment human-written test suites!
Interested? Apply here: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Reach out if you have questions!
#softwaretesting #softwareengineering #softwaredevelopment #LLM #AI #PHD
Interested? Apply here: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Reach out if you have questions!
#softwaretesting #softwareengineering #softwaredevelopment #LLM #AI #PHD
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
I'm seeking 1-2 Ph.D. students, who will conduct research on how LLMs can extend and augment the software tests created by humans. Please apply, share, and get in touch if you have questions!
Apply at: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Apply at: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Vacancies
www.chalmers.se
April 15, 2025 at 6:34 AM
I'm seeking 1-2 Ph.D. students, who will conduct research on how LLMs can extend and augment the software tests created by humans. Please apply, share, and get in touch if you have questions!
Apply at: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Apply at: www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Reposted by Neil Walkinshaw
LLMs hallucinating nonexistent software packages with plausible names leads to a new malware vulnerability: "slopsquatting."
LLMs can't stop making up software dependencies and sabotaging everything
: Hallucinated package names fuel 'slopsquatting'
www.theregister.com
April 12, 2025 at 10:31 PM
LLMs hallucinating nonexistent software packages with plausible names leads to a new malware vulnerability: "slopsquatting."
Our Causal Testing Framework, part of the EPSRC-funded CITCOM project, has just been published in @joss-openjournals.bsky.social.
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
Supports testing of "hard-to-test" systems with large input spaces, nondeterminism and long execution times.
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
Supports testing of "hard-to-test" systems with large input spaces, nondeterminism and long execution times.
The Causal Testing Framework
Foster et al., (2025). The Causal Testing Framework. Journal of Open Source Software, 10(107), 7739, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.07739
joss.theoj.org
March 6, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Our Causal Testing Framework, part of the EPSRC-funded CITCOM project, has just been published in @joss-openjournals.bsky.social.
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
Supports testing of "hard-to-test" systems with large input spaces, nondeterminism and long execution times.
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
Supports testing of "hard-to-test" systems with large input spaces, nondeterminism and long execution times.
I never play computer games these days. But I got to spend a couple of hours playing Enter the Gungeon (enterthegungeon.com) with my son (very much the gamer) , and it's fantastic. Retro and amusing - highly recommend!
Enter the Gungeon
Enter the Gungeon is a gunfight dungeon crawler following a band of misfits seeking to shoot, loot, dodge roll and table-flip their way to personal absolution by reaching the legendary Gungeon’s ultim...
enterthegungeon.com
March 5, 2025 at 10:47 AM
I never play computer games these days. But I got to spend a couple of hours playing Enter the Gungeon (enterthegungeon.com) with my son (very much the gamer) , and it's fantastic. Retro and amusing - highly recommend!
Especially short-sighted, given that so many key technologies that underpin the strong growth in the US economy, especially in AI, have emerged from these very research institutions.
Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
www.nature.com
February 28, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Especially short-sighted, given that so many key technologies that underpin the strong growth in the US economy, especially in AI, have emerged from these very research institutions.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Be cited or perish? I don't recognise some of the worst practices in CS (hope I'm not being naiive!), but concerning nonetheless...
Be cited or perish? I don't recognise some of the worst practices in CS (hope I'm not being naiive!), but concerning nonetheless...
Does authorship mean anything when academic papers are simply citable tokens?
The bibliometric infrastructure of citations has become an inescapable organising feature of academic life. Drawing on a range of evidence of the use and misuse of citations data, Stuart Macdonald …
blogs.lse.ac.uk
February 19, 2025 at 7:17 AM
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Be cited or perish? I don't recognise some of the worst practices in CS (hope I'm not being naiive!), but concerning nonetheless...
Be cited or perish? I don't recognise some of the worst practices in CS (hope I'm not being naiive!), but concerning nonetheless...
This article claiming "no evidence" that mobile phone restrictions in schools have no impact on social media usage or wellbeing has been widely reported in the UK: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Worth noting the absence of any causal analysis, despite many confounding factors.
Worth noting the absence of any causal analysis, despite many confounding factors.
School phone policies and their association with mental wellbeing, phone use, and social media use (SMART Schools): a cross-sectional observational study
There is no evidence that restrictive school policies are associated with overall
phone and social media use or better mental wellbeing in adolescents. The findings
do not provide evidence to support ...
www.thelancet.com
February 5, 2025 at 1:11 PM
This article claiming "no evidence" that mobile phone restrictions in schools have no impact on social media usage or wellbeing has been widely reported in the UK: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Worth noting the absence of any causal analysis, despite many confounding factors.
Worth noting the absence of any causal analysis, despite many confounding factors.