Essentials of Programming Languages

the years." --from the foreword by Hal Abelson What really happens when a program runs? "Essentials of Programming Languages" teaches the fundamental concepts of programming languages through numerous short programs, or "interpreters, " that actually implement the features of a language. Nearly 300 exercises using these programs provide a hands-on understanding of programming principles that is hard, if not impossible, to achieve by formal study alone. In an approach that is uniquely suited to mastering a new level of programming structure, the authors derive a sequence of interpreters that begins with a high-level operational specification (close to formal semantics) and ends with what is effectively assembly language--a process involving programming transformation techniques that should be in the toolbox of every programmer. The first four chapters provide the foundation for an in-depth study of programming languages, including most of the features of Scheme, needed to run the language-processing programs of the book. The next four chapters form the core of the book, deriving a sequence of interpreters ranging from very high- to very low-level. The authors then explore variations in programming language semantics, including various parameter-passing techniques and object-oriented languages, and describe techniques for transforming interpreters that ultimately allow the interpreter to beimplemented in any low-level language. They conclude by discussing scanners and parsers and the derivation of a compiler and virtual machine from an interpreter. More on "Essentials of Programming Languages"