Scope and Expectations

The scope of ASPLOS 2026 covers all practical aspects related to the three main ASPLOS disciplines: computer architecture, programming languages, and operating systems, as well as closely-related associated areas. ASPLOS construes systems broadly, and areas of interest include, but are not limited to: operating systems, file and storage systems, distributed systems, cloud computing, mobile and edge systems, secure and reliable systems, systems aspects of big data and machine learning, embedded and real-time systems, and virtualization. 

We seek original, high-quality research submissions that improve and further the knowledge of applied computer systems, with emphasis on the intersection between the main ASPLOS disciplines:  Operating Systems, Programming Languages, Computer Architecture and Emerging Hardware. 

Research submission may be applicable to computer systems of any scale, ranging from small, ultra-low power wearable devices to large scale parallel computers and data centers. We embrace research that directly targets new problems in innovative ways. The research may target diverse goals, such as throughput, latency, energy, and security. Non-traditional topics are encouraged, and the review process will be sensitive to the challenges of multidisciplinary work in emerging areas. We welcome submission of “experience papers” that have a novel component and that clearly articulate the lessons learned. We likewise welcome submissions whereby novelty lies in furthering our understandings of existing systems, e.g., by uncovering previously unknown, valuable insights or by convincingly refuting prior published results and common wisdom. We value submissions more highly if they are accompanied by clearly defined artifacts not previously available, including traces, original data, source code, or tools developed as part of the submitted work. We particularly encourage new ideas and approaches.

Alphabetically sorted areas of interest related to practical aspects of computer architecture, programming languages, and operating systems include but are not limited to:

    Existing, emerging, and nontraditional compute platforms at all scales
    Heterogeneous architectures and accelerators
    Internet services, cloud computing, and datacenters
    Memory, storage, networking, and I/O
    Power, energy, and thermal management
    Profiling, debugging, and testing
    Security, reliability, and availability
    Systems for enabling parallelism and computation on big data
    Virtualization and virtualized systems

A good submission will typically: motivate a significant problem; propose a practical solution or approach that makes sense; demonstrate not just the pros but also the cons of the proposal using sound experimental methods; explicitly disclose what has and has not been implemented; articulate the new contributions beyond previous work; and refrain from overclaiming, focusing the abstract and introduction sections primarily on the difference between the new proposal and what is already available. The latter statement should be interpreted broadly to also encompass studies that broaden our understanding of existing systems (rather than suggest new ones), which may constitute a significant problem in its own right. Submissions will be judged on relevance, novelty, technical merit, clarity. Submissions are expected to adhere to SIGPLAN’s Empirical Evaluation Guidelines and all the policies specified below.