This excellent addition to the UTiCS series of undergraduate textbooks provides a detailed and up to date description of the main principles behind the design and implementation of modern programming languages.Rather than focusing on a specific language, the book identifies the most important principles shared by large classes of languages. To complete this general approach, detailed descriptions of the main programming paradigms, namely imperative, object-oriented, functional and logic are given, analysed in depth and compared. This provides the basis for a critical understanding of most of the programming languages.An historical viewpoint is also included, discussing the evolution of programming languages, and to provide a context for most of the constructs in use today. The book concludes with two chapters which introduce basic notions of syntax, semantics and computability, to provide a completely rounded picture of what constitutes a programming language.

Self-contained and straightforward approach that requires some familiarity with only one programming language (unlike many competitor books) Clearly separates between the design, implementation and pragmatic aspects of programming languages Explicit treatment of the main programming paradigms Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Abstract Machines.- How to Describe a Programming Language.- Foundations.- Names and The Environment.- Memory Management.- Control Structure.- Control Abstraction.- Structuring Data.- Data Abstraction.- The Object-Oriented Paradigm.- The Functional Paradigm.- The Logic Programming Paradigm.- A Short Historical Perspective.