Register | 
submit
View Cart
Our agreement with Amazon.com enables us to offer a fine selection of magazines for IT professionals and home computing enthusiasts about topics such as personal computing and application development. Browse by category or use our advanced search service to search by title, publisher, or keyword.
 
If you find something that appeals to you, add it to your cart with confidence knowing that you'll get Amazon.com's lowest price. When you're ready to buy, we'll take you to Amazon's pages for final checkout and payment.
 
100% of all commissions earned by Kazzlo International are donated to Project Respond, a public charity dedicated to a greener, healthier planet and sponsor of initiatives such as the Green School Scholarship Award program.
 
Help
Perform a New Search

The Denotational Description of Programming Languages: An Introduction

The Denotational Description of Programming Languages: An Introduction
Details | Description | Customer Reviews
By: Michael J.C. Gordon (Author)  (Paperback - 1984)
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.
Availability:   Usually ships in 24 hours  
 
List Price:   $99.00 Our Price:  $41.12 Save:  58%
Product Details
More Buying Choices

37 used & new   from  $10.94
 
 
Have one to sell?
   
» Paperback: (172 pages)
» Publisher:  Springer (March 01, 1984)
» ISBN: 0387904336
» Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
» Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,889,867 in Books
» Average Customer Review: 
     
 
 
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.



Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
1 Review
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 

5.0 out of 5 stars Approbation, May 7, 2012
By 
H. M. Gladney (Saratoga, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Denotational Description of Programming Languages: An Introduction (Paperback)
A classic in its field, and a must-read for students of Computer Science. Not recommended for lay readers. Its back cover reads:

This informal, nonmathematical introduction to the descriptive tech¬niques of denotational semantics provides the framework needed to formally describe programming languages on the level of ALGOL 60 and PASCAL. No previous knowledge of these languages or of the theory of computation is assumed. Drawn from course material used successfully by the author for several years, this book clearly explains how denota¬tional semantics combines powerful descriptive notation with a rigorous theory to aid in the design, analysis, and comparison of programming languages. By avoiding the underlying mathematics, beginning students are given a precise, intuitive understanding of semantic concepts to¬gether with a solid working knowledge of notation.
Designed for use as an elementary introduction at the junior/senior level, this book is also well-suited for... Read more
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


Share your thoughts with other customers:
› See the customer review...
All brands, company, or product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
An AJAX error has occurred while processing the data