| BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY FACS SPECIALIST GROUP |
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Formal Aspects of Computing Science
BCS-FACS Evening Seminar Series
Programming Language Description Languages: From Scott and Strachey to Semantics Online
Professor Peter Mosses
3 March 2006
5.45pmBCS London Offices
First Floor, The Davidson Building
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Since the middle of the last century, hundreds of programming languages have been
designed and implemented -- and new ones are continually emerging. The syntax of a
programming language can usually be described quite precisely and efficiently using
formal grammars. However, the formal description of its semantics is much more
challenging. Language designers, implementers, and programmers commonly regard
precise semantic descriptions as impractical and too costly. Research in semantics
has allowed us to reason about software and has provided valuable insight into
the design of programming languages, but few semantic descriptions of full
languages have been published, and hardly any of these are currently available
online.
One of the major approaches to formal semantics is denotational semantics, developed by Scott and Strachey in the late 1960s. Why has such a theoretically attractive approach been found impractical for describing full-scale programming languages? Does it help much to use monads in denotational descriptions, or is a more radical change needed? How might efficient online access to a repository of semantic descriptions be provided? Could it ever become as easy to generate efficient compilers and interpreters from semantic descriptions as it already is to generate parsers from grammars? This talk addresses such questions, and gives some grounds for optimism about the development of highly practical, online semantic descriptions. Refreshments will be served from 5.15pm The seminar is free of charge and open to everyone. If you would like to attend, please email Paul Boca your name by 28 February 2006. Pre-registration is required, as security at the BCS Offices is tight. |
| Formal Aspects of Computing Science |
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