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SEMANOL (73) a metalanguage for programming the semantics of programming languages

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Summary

SEMANOL is a practical programming system for writing readable formal specifications of the syntax and semantics of programming languages. SEMANOL is based on a theory of semantics which embraces algorithmic (operational) and extensional (input/output) semantics. Specifications for large contemporary languages have been constructed in the formal language, SEMANOL (73), which is a readable high-level notation. A SEMANOL (73) specification can be executed (by an existing interpreter program); when given a program from the specified language, and its input, the execution of the SEMANOL (73) specification produces the program's output. The demonstrated executability of SEMANOL (73) provides important practical advantages. This paper includes discussions of the theory of semantics underlying SEMANOL, the syntax and semantics of the SEMANOL (73) language, the use of the SEMANOL (73) language in the SEMANOL method for describing programming languages, and the contrast between the Vienna definition method (VDL) and SEMANOL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TRW Systems Group, Redondo Beach, Ca., USA

    E. R. Anderson & F. C. Belz

  2. Univ. of Southern California, 90007, University Park Los Angeles, Ca., USA

    E. K. Blum

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  1. E. R. Anderson
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  2. F. C. Belz
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  3. E. K. Blum
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Anderson, E.R., Belz, F.C. & Blum, E.K. SEMANOL (73) a metalanguage for programming the semantics of programming languages. Acta Informatica 6, 109–131 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00268496

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