Programming Language Design Concepts

David Watt is a Professor of Computing Science at Glasgow University. His research interests include the design, specification, and implementation of programming languages, and he has published several books on the topic. He has many years of teaching experience on this and other programming subjects.

• Preface. PART I: INTRODUCTION.1. Programming Languages.1.1 Programming linguistics.1.1.1 Concepts and paradigms.1.1.2 Syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.1.1.3 Language processors.1.2 Historical development.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.PART II: BASIC CONCEPTS2. Values and Types.2.1 Types.2.2 Primitive types.2.2.1 Built-in primitive types.2.2.2 Defined primitive types.2.2.3 Discrete primitive types.2.3 Composite types.2.3.1 Cartesian products, structures, and records.2.3.2 Mappings, arrays, and functions.2.3.3 Disjoint unions, discriminated records, and objects.2.4 Recursive types.2.4.1 Lists.2.4.2 Strings.2.4.3 Recursive types in general.2.5 Type systems.2.5.1 Static vs dynamic typing.2.5.2 Type equivalence.2.5.3 The Type Completeness Principle.2.6 Expressions.2.6.1 Literals.2. 6.2 Constructions.2.6.3 Function calls.2.6.4 Conditional expressions.2.6.5 Iterative expressions.2.6.6 Constant and variable accesses.2.7 Implementation notes.2.7.1 Representation of primitive types.2.7.2 Representation of Cartesian products.2.7.3 Representation of arrays.2.7.4 Representation of disjoint unions.2.7.5 Representation of recursive types.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.3. Variables and Storage.3.1 Variables and storage.3.2 Simple variables.3.3 Composite variables.3.3.1 Total vs selective update.3.3.2 Static vs dynamic vs flexible arrays.3.4 Copy semantics vs reference semantics.3.5 Lifetime.3.5.1 Global and local variables.3.5.2 Heap variables.3.5.3 Persistent variables.3.6 Pointers.3.6.1 Pointers and recursive types.3.6.2 Dangling pointers.3.7 Commands.3.7.1 Skips.3.7.2 Assignments.3.7.3 Procedure calls.3.7.4 Sequential commands.3.7.5 Collateral commands.3.7.6 Conditional commands.3.7.7 Iterative commands.3.8 Expressions with side effects.3.8.1 Command expressions.3.8.2 Expression-oriented languages.3.9 Implementation notes3.9.1 Storage for global and local variables.3.9.2 Storage for heap variables.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.4. Bindings and Scope.4.1 Bindings and environments.4.2 Scope.4.2.1 Block structure.4.2.2 Scope and visibility.4.2.3 Static vs dynamic scoping.4.3 Declarations.4.3.1 Type declarations.4.3.2 Constant declarations.4.3.3 Variable declarations.4.3.4 Procedure definitions.4.3.5 Collateral declarations.4.3.6 Sequential declarations.4.3.6 Recursive declarations.4.3.8 Scopes of declarations.4.4 Blocks.4.4.1 Block commands.4.4.2 Block expressions.4.4.3 The Qualification Principle.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.5. Procedural Abstraction.5.1 Function procedures and proper procedures.5.1.1 Function procedures.5.1.2 Proper procedures5.1.3 The Abstraction Principle.5.2 Parameters and arguments.5.2.1 Copy parameter mechanisms.5.2.2 Reference parameter mechanisms.5.2.3 The Correspondence Principle.5.3 Implementation notes5.3.1 Implementation of procedure calls.5.3.1 Implementation of parameter passing.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.PART III: ADVANCED CONCEPTS.6. Data Abstraction.6.1 Program units, packages, and encapsulation.6.1.1 Packages.6.1.2 Encapsulation.6.2 Abstract types.6.3 Objects and classes.6.3.1 Classes.6.3.2 Subclasses and inheritance.6.3.3 Abstract classes.6.3.4. Single vs multiple inheritance.6.3.5 Interfaces.6.4 Implementation notes.6.4.1 Representation of objects6.4.2 Implementation of method calls.Summary.Further readingExercises.7. Generic Abstraction.7.1 Generic units and instantiation.7.1.1 Generic packages in ADA.7.1.2 Generic classes in C++.7.2 Type and class parameters.7.2.1 Type parameters in ADA.7.2.2 Type parameters in C++.7.2.3 Class parameters in JAVA.7.3 Implementation notes7.3.1 Implementation of ADA generic units.7.3.2 Implementation of C++ generic units.7.3.3 Implementation of JAVA generic units.Summary.Further reading.Exercises8. Type Systems.8.1 Inclusion polymorphism.8.1.1 Types and subtypes.8.1.2 Classes and subclasses.8.2 Parametric polymorphism.8.2.1 Polymorphic procedures.8.2.2 Parameterized types.8.2.3 Type inference.8.3 Overloading.8.4 Type conversions.8.5 Implementation notes8.5.1 Implementation of polymorphic procedures.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.9. Control Flow.9.1 Sequencers.9.2 Jumps.9.3 Escapes.9.4 Exceptions.9.5 Implementation notes9.5.1 Implementation of jumps and escapes.9.5.2 Implementation of exceptions.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.10. Concurrency (by William Findlay).10.1 Why concurrency?.10.2 Programs and processes.10.3 Problems with concurrency.10.3.1 Nondeterminism.10.3.2 Speed dependence.10.3.3 Deadlock.10.3.4 Starvation.10.4 Process interactions.10.4.1 Independent processes.10.4.2 Competing processes.10.4.3 Communicating processes.10.5 Concurrency primitives.10.5.1 Process creation and control.10.5.2 Interrupts.10.5.3 Spin locks and wait-free algorithms.10.5.4 Events.10.5.5 Semaphores.10.5.6 Messages.10.5.7 Remote procedure calls.10.6 Concurrent control abstractions.10.6.1 Conditional critical regions.10.6.2 Monitors.10.6.3 Rendezvous.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.PART IV: PARADIGMS11. Imperative Programming.11.1 Key concepts.11.2 Pragmatics.11.2.1 A simple spellchecker.11.3 Case study: C.11.3.1 Values and types.11.3.2 Variables, storage, and control.11.3.3 Bindings and scope.11.3.4 Procedural abstraction.11.3.5 Independent compilation.11.3.6 Preprocessor directives.11.3.7 Function library.11.3.8 A simple spellchecker.11.4 Case study: ADA.11.4.1 Values and types.11.4.2 Variables, storage, and control.11.4.3 Bindings and scope.11.4.4 Procedural abstraction.11.4.5 Data abstraction.11.4.6 Generic abstraction.11.4.7 Separate compilation.11.4.8 Package library.11.4.9 A simple spellchecker.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.12. Object-Oriented Programming.12.1 Key Concepts.12.2 Pragmatics.12.3 Case study: C++.12.3.1 Values and types.12.3.2 Variables, storage, and control.12.3.3 Bindings and scope.12.3.4 Procedural abstraction.12.3.5 Data abstraction.12.3.6 Generic abstraction.12.3.7 Independent compilation and preprocessor directives12.3.8 Class and template library.12.3.9 A simple spellchecker.12.4 Case study: JAVA.12.4.1 Values and types.12.4.2 Variables, storage, and control.12.4.3 Bindings and scope.12.4.4 Procedural abstraction.12.4.5 Data abstraction.12.4.6 Generic abstraction.12.4.7 Separate compilation and dynamic linking.12.4.8 Class library.12.4.9 A simple spellchecker.12.5 Case study: ADA95.12.5.1 Types.12.5.2 Data abstraction.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.13. Concurrent Programming (by William Findlay).13.1 Key concepts.13.2 Pragmatics.13.3 Case study: ADA95.13.3.1 Process creation and termination.13.3.2 Mutual exclusion.13.3.3 Admission control.13.3.4 Scheduling away deadlock.13.4 Case study: JAVA.13.4.1 Process creation and termination.13.4.2 Mutual exclusion.13.4.3 Admission control.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.14. Functional Programming.14.1 Key concepts.14.1.1 Eager vs normal-order vs lazy evaluation.14.2 Pragmatics.14.3 Case study: HASKELL.14.3.1 Values and types.14.3.2 Bindings and scope.14.3.3 Procedural abstraction.14.3.4 Lazy evaluation.14.3.5 Data abstraction.14.3.6 Generic abstraction.14.3.7 Modeling state.14.3.8 A simple spellchecker.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.15. Logic Programming.15.1 Key concepts.15.2 Pragmatics.15.3 Case study: PROLOG.15.3.1 Values, variables, and terms.15.3.2 Assertions and clauses.15.3.3 Relations.15.3.4 The closed-world assumption.15.3.5 Bindings and scope.15.3.6 Control.15.3.7 Input/output.15.3.8 A simple spellchecker.Summary.Further reading.Exercises16. Scripting.16.1 Pragmatics.16.1.1 Regular expressions.16.2 Case study: PYTHON.16.2.1 Values and types.16.2.2 Variables, storage, and control16.2.3 Bindings and scope.16.2.4 Procedural abstraction.16.2.5 Data abstraction.16.2.6 Separate compilation16.2.7 Module library.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.PART V: CONCLUSION.17. Language Selection.17.1 Criteria.17.2 Evaluation.Summary.Exercises.18. Language Design.18.1 Selection of concepts.18.2 Regularity.18.3 Simplicity.18.4 Efficiency.18.5 Syntax.18.6 Language life cycles.18.7 The future.Summary.Further reading.Exercises.Bibliography.Glossary.Index.