Principles of Programming Languages: Design, Evaluation, and Implementation (Hardcover)

by Bruce J. MacLennan (Author) "In this chapter we investigate a very primitive programming language, so primitive in fact that you would never want to program in it..." (more)
Key Phrases: static nesting level, accessing subprograms, conformant array schemas, Don Smith, Abstraction Principle, Regularity Principle (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"I love this book. The approach, contents (coverage), and presentation are just right!"--Ernest Paquet, Walsh University

"Very good book, nicely organized. Gives an excellent historical perspective on the development of PLs and the motivation for change." --Violetta Cavalli-Sforza, San Francisco State University

Product Description
Design is an essential topic for all computer science students regardless of whether or not they will ever have to create a programming language. The user who understands the motivation for various language facilities will be able to use them more intelligently; the compiler writer to implement them more reasonably. This new edition of Principles of Programming Languages covers both design and implementation issues important for computer users and compiler writers. It goes beyond these basic topics to cover descriptive tools as well as historical precedents so that design issues can be communicated and viewed in their historical context. Principles of programming languages are emphasized, not the details of language syntax. Principles of programming languages are emphasized, not the details of language syntax. Methods of implementation are emphasized over the specific techniques. A horizontal organiation, analyzing individual languages in their entirety makes this book unique.

This third edition is a complete and thorough revision of the last edition including the following: Discussions have been added in the "phenomenology" of programming languages and the rolse od conceptual models in language design; also, a discussion of system implementation languages, with an emphasis on C, has been added. Programming environments are discussed, as illustrated by the Interlisp system. This is in the context of a discusssion of language characteristics conducive to rich programming environments. Furthermore, since window-oriented interfaces are now more widely known, their description has been eliminated from the discussion of SmallTalk, except for a few historical remarks. This permits some new discussion of recent developments in object oriented programming (including C++, Ada 95, CLOS, Java, and the like), to the extent that they support the overall objectives of the book. Also, the discussion of multiple inheritance has been expanded.

The purpose of this book is to teach the skills required to design programming languages. These skills are summarized in a number of principles, which are illustrated by case studies of several programming languages representing the five major generations of programming language design.

This text is designed for a graduate course in Computer Science; the course is commonly called Programming Languages, Comparitive Languages, or Theory of Programming Languages. It could be used for any course in programming languages, even if the emphasis is not on design. In such cases it might have to be supplemented with another book containing detailed language descriptions. In addition, it might also be an auxillary text in a course on human interfeace design or software engineering.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (March 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195113063
• ISBN-13: 978-0195113068
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #978,433 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still an excellent treatment of the Principles behind programming languages., December 22, 2005

By	Ira Carmel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Today I needed to recommend a book that would treat the ideas and concepts behind good programming. I remembered in college that I had taken a languages course, I looked on my bookshelf, and found this text. I started to re-read it, and found that the ideas and concepts that are covered in this book are still relevant and well treated for today's computing landscape. I only have the 2nd edition so it does not have a treatment of C or C++, but the ideas that it conveyes are still the most important aspect of learning about computer languages. A language you know does not help you with designing good code, however concepts of computer languages will help you no matter what language you code. Inside the cover flap reads a list of principles that are covered throughout the book in each section. Some of them are: Abstraction, Automation, Infomation hiding, Orthogonality, Portability, etc. I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to learn how to *design* quality software from the ground up. This book will not teach you a language, this book will teach you how to design good code.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very out of date., June 30, 2000

By	Wendell (Phoenix, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews

This book reads like it was written in 1990 and the author never bothered to do any further research. It makes some good points, but it should not be a first choice for a survey of the state of the art with regard to functional, OO, and logic programming.