› › Formal Semantics Of Programming Languages

The Formal Semantics of Programming Languages

Author : Glynn Winskel

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 388 pages

File Size : 15,76 MB

Release : 1993-02-05

Category : Computers

ISBN : 9780262731034

Get eBook

Book Description

The Formal Semantics of Programming Languages provides the basic mathematical techniques necessary for those who are beginning a study of the semantics and logics of programming languages. These techniques will allow students to invent, formalize, and justify rules with which to reason about a variety of programming languages. Although the treatment is elementary, several of the topics covered are drawn from recent research, including the vital area of concurency. The book contains many exercises ranging from simple to miniprojects.Starting with basic set theory, structural operational semantics is introduced as a way to define the meaning of programming languages along with associated proof techniques. Denotational and axiomatic semantics are illustrated on a simple language of while-programs, and fall proofs are given of the equivalence of the operational and denotational semantics and soundness and relative completeness of the axiomatic semantics. A proof of Godel's incompleteness theorem, which emphasizes the impossibility of achieving a fully complete axiomatic semantics, is included. It is supported by an appendix providing an introduction to the theory of computability based on while-programs. Following a presentation of domain theory, the semantics and methods of proof for several functional languages are treated. The simplest language is that of recursion equations with both call-by-value and call-by-name evaluation. This work is extended to lan guages with higher and recursive types, including a treatment of the eager and lazy lambda-calculi. Throughout, the relationship between denotational and operational semantics is stressed, and the proofs of the correspondence between the operation and denotational semantics are provided. The treatment of recursive types - one of the more advanced parts of the book - relies on the use of information systems to represent domains. The book concludes with a chapter on parallel programming languages, accompanied by a discussion of methods for specifying and verifying nondeterministic and parallel programs.



Semantics of Programming Languages

Author : Carl A. Gunter

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 450 pages

File Size : 41,30 MB

Release : 1992

Category : Computers

ISBN : 9780262570954

Get eBook

Book Description

Semantics of Programming Languages exposes the basic motivations and philosophy underlying the applications of semantic techniques in computer science. It introduces the mathematical theory of programming languages with an emphasis on higher-order functions and type systems. Designed as a text for upper-level and graduate-level students, the mathematically sophisticated approach will also prove useful to professionals who want an easily referenced description of fundamental results and calculi. Basic connections between computational behavior, denotational semantics, and the equational logic of functional programs are thoroughly and rigorously developed. Topics covered include models of types, operational semantics, category theory, domain theory, fixed point (denotational). semantics, full abstraction and other semantic correspondence criteria, types and evaluation, type checking and inference, parametric polymorphism, and subtyping. All topics are treated clearly and in depth, with complete proofs for the major results and numerous exercises.



Formal Syntax and Semantics of Programming Languages

Author : Kenneth Slonneger

Publisher : Addison-Wesley Longman

Page : 664 pages

File Size : 25,73 MB

Release : 1995

Category : Computers

ISBN :

Get eBook

Book Description

With this book, readers with a basic grounding in discreet mathematics will be able to understand the practical applications of these difficult concepts. The book presents the typically difficult subject of "formal methods" in an informal, easy-to-follow manner. A "laboratory component" is integrated throughout the text.



The Denotational Description of Programming Languages

Author : M.J.C. Gordon

Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media

Page : 168 pages

File Size : 43,62 MB

Release : 2012-12-06

Category : Computers

ISBN : 1461262283

Get eBook

Book Description

This book explains how to formally describe programming languages using the techniques of denotational semantics. The presentation is designed primarily for computer science students rather than for (say) mathematicians. No knowledge of the theory of computation is required, but it would help to have some acquaintance with high level programming languages. The selection of material is based on an undergraduate semantics course taught at Edinburgh University for the last few years. Enough descriptive techniques are covered to handle all of ALGOL 50, PASCAL and other similar languages. Denotational semantics combines a powerful and lucid descriptive notation (due mainly to Strachey) with an elegant and rigorous theory (due to Scott). This book provides an introduction to the descriptive techniques without going into the background mathematics at all. In some ways this is very unsatisfactory; reliable reasoning about semantics (e. g. correctness proofs) cannot be done without knowing the underlying model and so learning semantic notation without its model theory could be argued to be pointless. My own feeling is that there is plenty to be gained from acquiring a purely intuitive understanding of semantic concepts together with manipulative competence in the notation. For these equip one with a powerful conceptua1 framework-a framework enabling one to visualize languages and constructs in an elegant and machine-independent way. Perhaps a good analogy is with calculus: for many practical purposes (e. g. engineering calculations) an intuitive understanding of how to differentiate and integrate is all that is needed.



Semantics with Applications: An Appetizer

Author : Hanne Riis Nielson

Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media

Page : 285 pages

File Size : 41,64 MB

Release : 2007-04-18

Category : Computers

ISBN : 1846286921

Get eBook

Book Description

Semantics will play an important role in the future development of software systems and domain-specific languages. This book provides a needed introductory presentation of the fundamental ideas behind these approaches, stresses their relationship by formulating and proving the relevant theorems, and illustrates the applications of semantics in computer science. Historically important application areas are presented together with some exciting potential applications. The text investigates the relationship between various methods and describes some of the main ideas used, illustrating these by means of interesting applications. The book provides a rigorous introduction to the main approaches to formal semantics of programming languages.



Understanding Z

Author : J. M. Spivey

Publisher : Cambridge University Press

Page : 144 pages

File Size : 34,78 MB

Release : 1988-03-31

Category : Computers

ISBN : 9780521334297

Get eBook

Book Description

The Z notation is a language for expressing mathematical specifications of computing systems. By providing a formal semantics for Z, this book justifies the claim that Z is a precise specification language, and provides a standard framework for understanding Z specifications.



Theories of Programming Languages

Author : John C. Reynolds

Publisher : Cambridge University Press

Page : 514 pages

File Size : 22,60 MB

Release : 1998-10-13

Category : Computers

ISBN : 1139936255

Get eBook

Book Description

First published in 1998, this textbook is a broad but rigourous survey of the theoretical basis for the design, definition and implementation of programming languages and of systems for specifying and proving programme behaviour. Both imperative and functional programming are covered, as well as the ways of integrating these aspects into more general languages. Recognising a unity of technique beneath the diversity of research in programming languages, the author presents an integrated treatment of the basic principles of the subject. He identifies the relatively small number of concepts, such as compositional semantics, binding structure, domains, transition systems and inference rules, that serve as the foundation of the field. Assuming only knowledge of elementary programming and mathematics, this text is perfect for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses in programming language theory and also will appeal to researchers and professionals in designing or implementing computer languages.



Essentials of Programming Languages, third edition

Author : Daniel P. Friedman

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 433 pages

File Size : 46,15 MB

Release : 2008-04-18

Category : Computers

ISBN : 0262062798

Get eBook

Book Description

A new edition of a textbook that provides students with a deep, working understanding of the essential concepts of programming languages, completely revised, with significant new material. This book provides students with a deep, working understanding of the essential concepts of programming languages. Most of these essentials relate to the semantics, or meaning, of program elements, and the text uses interpreters (short programs that directly analyze an abstract representation of the program text) to express the semantics of many essential language elements in a way that is both clear and executable. The approach is both analytical and hands-on. The book provides views of programming languages using widely varying levels of abstraction, maintaining a clear connection between the high-level and low-level views. Exercises are a vital part of the text and are scattered throughout; the text explains the key concepts, and the exercises explore alternative designs and other issues. The complete Scheme code for all the interpreters and analyzers in the book can be found online through The MIT Press web site. For this new edition, each chapter has been revised and many new exercises have been added. Significant additions have been made to the text, including completely new chapters on modules and continuation-passing style. Essentials of Programming Languages can be used for both graduate and undergraduate courses, and for continuing education courses for programmers.



Formal Syntax and Semantics of Java

Author : Jim Alves-Foss

Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media

Page : 410 pages

File Size : 37,91 MB

Release : 1999-06-09

Category : Computers

ISBN : 3540661581

Get eBook

Book Description

Java, undoubtedly, has its roots in embedded systems and the Web. Nevertheless, it is a fully functional high-level programming language that can provide users with a wide range of functionality and versatility. This thoroughly cross-reviewed state-of-the-art survey is devoted to the study of the syntax and semantics of Java from a formal-methods point of view. It consists of the following chapters by leading researchers: Formal Grammar for Java; Describing the Semantics of Java and Proving Type Soundness; Proving Java Type Soundness; Machine-Checking the Java Specification: Proving Type-Safety; An Event-Based Structural Operational Semantics of Multi-Threaded Java Dynamic Denotational Semantics of Java; A Programmer's Reduction Semantics for Classes and Mixins; A Formal Specification of Java Virtual Machine Instructions for Objects, Methods and Subroutines; The Operational Semantics of a Java Secure Processor; A Programmer Friendly Modular Definition of the Semantics of Java.



Design Concepts in Programming Languages

Author : Franklyn Turbak

Publisher : MIT Press

Page : 1347 pages

File Size : 41,96 MB

Release : 2008-07-18

Category : Computers

ISBN : 0262303159

Get eBook

Book Description

Key ideas in programming language design and implementation explained using a simple and concise framework; a comprehensive introduction suitable for use as a textbook or a reference for researchers. Hundreds of programming languages are in use today—scripting languages for Internet commerce, user interface programming tools, spreadsheet macros, page format specification languages, and many others. Designing a programming language is a metaprogramming activity that bears certain similarities to programming in a regular language, with clarity and simplicity even more important than in ordinary programming. This comprehensive text uses a simple and concise framework to teach key ideas in programming language design and implementation. The book's unique approach is based on a family of syntactically simple pedagogical languages that allow students to explore programming language concepts systematically. It takes as premise and starting point the idea that when language behaviors become incredibly complex, the description of the behaviors must be incredibly simple. The book presents a set of tools (a mathematical metalanguage, abstract syntax, operational and denotational semantics) and uses it to explore a comprehensive set of programming language design dimensions, including dynamic semantics (naming, state, control, data), static semantics (types, type reconstruction, polymporphism, effects), and pragmatics (compilation, garbage collection). The many examples and exercises offer students opportunities to apply the foundational ideas explained in the text. Specialized topics and code that implements many of the algorithms and compilation methods in the book can be found on the book's Web site, along with such additional material as a section on concurrency and proofs of the theorems in the text. The book is suitable as a text for an introductory graduate or advanced undergraduate programming languages course; it can also serve as a reference for researchers and practitioners.