Practical Foundations for Programming Languages 2nd Edition

by Robert Harper (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-1107150300

ISBN-10: 1107150302

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This text develops a comprehensive theory of programming languages based on type systems and structural operational semantics. Language concepts are precisely defined by their static and dynamic semantics, presenting the essential tools both intuitively and rigorously while relying on only elementary mathematics. These tools are used to analyze and prove properties of languages and provide the framework for combining and comparing language features. The broad range of concepts includes fundamental data types such as sums and products, polymorphic and abstract types, dynamic typing, dynamic dispatch, subtyping and refinement types, symbols and dynamic classification, parallelism and cost semantics, and concurrency and distribution. The methods are directly applicable to language implementation, to the development of logics for reasoning about programs, and to the formal verification language properties such as type safety. This thoroughly revised second edition includes exercises at the end of nearly every chapter and a new chapter on type refinements.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Review of previous edition:
"Harper's book provides a comprehensive treatment of the foundations of computation. He touches on a surprising range of concepts that arise in language design: from simple types to polymorphism to dependent types to modules; from strict to lazy to parallel computation; and from proof techniques for reasoning about extensional behavior to practical, compositional cost models in the presence of garbage collection. More importantly, throughout the book he uses types and the principles of type theory to organize the material and help us discover the orthogonal, composable abstractions that arise naturally not only in the design of programming languages but also in logics and mathematics. This approach helps uncover the fundamental structure lurking inside programming languages of today, and provides a principled approach to the designs for tomorrow."
Greg Morrisett, Cornell University, New York

Review of previous edition:
"Starting with a mathematically simple framework and organizing principles that give type systems a central role, Bob Harper's magnum opus reveals the theory of programming languages as a coherent scientific subject with both breadth and elegance. His enormous experience, pithy views, and great good taste are evident throughout a book that deserves to become a classic."
Andrew Pitts, University of Cambridge

Review of previous edition:
"This book offers an excellent introduction to a wide range of programming language concepts. They are all uniformly and carefully explained, using techniques that are very useful in practice for both analysis and implementation of programming languages. The book is authored by one of the most prominent researchers in type theory for programming languages. The presentation is very effective and based on the author's years of experience teaching the material."
Lars Birkedal, IT University of Copenhagen

Book Description

This book unifies a broad range of programming language concepts under the framework of type systems and structural operational semantics.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition (April 1, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1107150302
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1107150300
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.38 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.3 x 10.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #544,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,399 in Computer Programming Languages
- #2,530 in Programming Languages (Books)

Customer Reviews:
8 ratings

About the author

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Professor Robert Harper

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Robert Harper is a professor in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has been a member of faculty since 1988. His main research interest is in the application of type theory to the design and implementation of programming languages and to the development of systems for mechanization of mathematics. Robert Harper is a recipient of the Allen Newell Medal for Research Excellence and the Herbert A. Simon Award for Teaching Excellence at Carnegie Mellon, and is an ACM Fellow.

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Bruce S Grebe

It shipped on time

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

It was a gift so I really cannot review it.

One person found this helpful

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P&B

Beautiful material, masterful presentation.

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2016

His definitions are accurate, concise and elegant. That is a sign he really knows what he's talking about. Usually competency is directly proportional to how long authors' explanations are. I've noticed this when reading Errett Bishop, D.E. Knuth, R.P. Stanley, and others. If you believe that criterion, Professor Harper's extremely competent. If you're new to programming language theory, heed his words about the book. When asked on Quora regarding the book's prerequisites:

"Just an appreciation for a rigorous mathematical perspective on things, but no mathematics in particular is required. It would be good to have experience proving theorems about just about anything, just so you're practiced in the art of rigorous thinking.

The book is very dense with information, and very concise in its presentation of ideas. It demands, and rewards, careful study. It cannot be appreciated casually."

As it should be. Take that advice seriously. This is my first exposure to programming language theory; be ready to work. Part I's fairly technical, and even Professor Harper recommends skipping to Part II, skimming Part I and returning to it as necessary. Fully understanding Part I is required to fully appreciate subsequent chapters.

(If you're new to programming in general (as I somewhat am), I highly recommend downloading a copy of his "Programming in Standard ML". If it's meant to be an introductory programming book, it's the best one I've read. Many non-trivial examples are presented throughout, and illustrate how beautiful SML is. It truly is a "high level" language. Many of the code examples have greatly helped me and how I approach programming. He's very detailed when teaching students how to develop, specify, and refine programs. He sometimes goes down incorrect lines of reasoning when programming, shows the mistake(s) made, and WHY they're mistakes. He also teaches WHY specifications are important, and how to CORRECTLY develop them. Examples of this are the GCD-calculating and regular expression matcher programs. After reading this "book", C++, Java, Python and some other languages' crappiness becomes (even more?) obvious. That said, I've never ran into a bad SML book. From the Standard Basis Library through Harper, Paulson, and Ullman, they're all outstanding.)

A "link" to some of its solutions:

httpwwwcscmuedu/~rwh/pfpl/solnspdf

I haven't finished reading the book. I'll periodically update this review. If the quality of the book's consistent throughout, it'll be marvelous; so far, it has been. His style is impeccable, material well presented, and subject matter captivating.

Thank you, Professor Harper. I look forward to subsequent editions and future titles!

19 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

I'm sure the author has great and comprehensive knowledge of this area

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2018

I'm sure the author has great and comprehensive knowledge of this area. But it is not user friendly at all. Most places which need proofs simply says, it is clear that, it is easy to show that, or proceed by induction... There is very few intuition or explanations given in the text, most are just facts and definitions presented in a very formal and sometimes confusing way. Most of the time after I actually grasp the material, I feel I can explain the concept in a much more easier to understand way, instead of spending hours trying to decode some obscure sentence in this text.

That said, this book is very authoritative and reflects professor harper's deep understanding of the area. Perhaps it is meant to be a supplementary textbook for class, so that you could ask questions to TA's and professors if you are confused. Too bad my professor this semester fails to explain anything and 99% of the class is utterly confused. CMU students who wish to take 312, be warned, not every professor can handle this course.

5 people found this helpful

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Albert

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

Perfect book in perfect condition

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Practical Foundations for Programming Languages 2nd Edition

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