Oxford Harrison — Language, runtime, and systems engineer

@oxharris

01 / TRAJECTORY

Rederiving computing from a new theoretical foundation.

Languages, runtimes, protocols, databases, frameworks, systems

...toward a future where the code shouldn't work but it does; where much of what engineering is today becomes just a mode switch in the substrate underneath.

Language demo

counter.js

"use live";let a = 0;console.log(a);setInterval(() => a++, 1000);

Console0

02 / THE LAB

Principal Engineer & Lead Researcher at Convergent Machines Lab.

Convergent Machines Lab is co-founded and co-run by Oxford

Oxford leads the lab's engineering and research program toward rederiving computing from a new theoretical foundation — engineering and research in a loop.

Engineering

Engineering at Convergent Machines Lab

Compilers · Engines · Protocols · Web platform · Frameworks · Databases

Oxford works across the computing substrate — building new languages, runtimes, protocols, databases, frameworks, and extensions to the web platform. Much of what he builds and maintains at the lab is a continuation of his prior work.

Building new language compilers2 compilersBuilding new execution engines7 enginesDeveloping new protocols5 protocolsExtending the web platform5 polyfillsBuilding new frameworks1 frameworkBuilding new databases1 database

Research

Research at Convergent Machines Lab

State · Observability · Convergence

Oxford leads research into the theory underlying computing in areas including state, observability, and convergence. The work involves investigation, formalization, and the development of new formal models, with findings and papers shared openly as the research develops.

Read the papersPapers and formal models

Backstory

The Backstory — How One Library Started It All

Observer API · WebQit stack

Change tracking is hard. Oxford's work on the problem produced the Observer API, which exposed a much larger problem space and became the start of the WebQit stack, and eventually the Convergent Machines computing substrate.

Read the backstoryHow it all started

03 / WRITING & TALKS

Writing and talks.

Essays, talks, and earlier articles

Oxford writes and speaks about language and runtime engineering, database internals, and systems architecture — particularly where real-time, reactive, and local-first requirements expose the limits of conventional approaches.

Talks

Older articles