Comparative Metric Semantics of Programming Languages

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 1-8

3. Part I

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9

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   2. Domain equations

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 11-17

   3. Linear and branching domains

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 19-49

4. Part II

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 51-51

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   2. Operational semantics

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 53-78

   3. Nondeterministic choice

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 79-96

   4. Random assignment

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 97-115

5. Part III

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117

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   2. Generalized finiteness conditions

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 119-148

   3. Dense choice

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 149-164

   4. Second order communication

      • Franck van Breugel

      Pages 165-191

6. Back Matter

   Pages 193-220

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During the last three decades several different styles of semantics for program­ ming languages have been developed. This book compares two of them: the operational and the denotational approach. On the basis of several exam­ ples we show how to define operational and denotational semantic models for programming languages. Furthermore, we introduce a general technique for comparing various semantic models for a given language. We focus on different degrees of nondeterminism in programming lan­ guages. Nondeterminism arises naturally in concurrent languages. It is also an important concept in specification languages. In the examples discussed, the degree of non determinism ranges from a choice between two alternatives to a choice between a collection of alternatives indexed by a closed interval of the real numbers. The former arises in a language with nondeterministic choices. A real time language with dense choices gives rise to the latter. We also consider the nondeterministic random assignment and parallel composition, both couched in a simple language. Besides non determinism our four example languages contain some form of recursion, a key ingredient of programming languages.

• Computer Science
• Natural
• Notation
• communication
• programming
• programming language
• semantics
• algorithm analysis and problem complexity

• School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

  Franck Breugel

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