Systems Week

During Systems week we will form groups to evaluate some existing probabilistic programming languages. Choose one of the following languages (or, any other PPL system you are interested in trying). If you have used any of these languages before, try to choose a different one:

• Stan
• Pyro
• PyMC3
• ProbLog
• Turing.jl
• TensorFlow Probability
• Hakaru

Prepare a 20 to 30-minute experience report slideshow with your group that goes over the following:

• Motivation and context: What is the high-level purpose of the language? Who are the target users? Who are the developers? What is the history of the language?
• Setup: How difficult was the system to install and get running?
• Example programs: What are some example programs you tried to run? Were you successful in running them? What did you observe? Include concrete examples and outcomes in your slides. Try to go beyond the basic tutorial.
• Applications: Share some existing applications of the language that you were able to find. Can you think of any applications you want to try using this language for?
• Usability: How easy was the system to run? Did you hit surprises or challenges? What tools are there for diagnosing/debugging programs? What might you improve to make the system easier or more effective?
• Outlook: Under what circumstances would you (or would you not) recommend using the system for a particular task?