A Formal System for Defining the Syntax and Semantics of Computer Languages

摘要

The thesis of this dissertation is that formal definitions of the syntax and semantics of computer languages are needed. This dissertation investigates two candidates for formally defining computer languages: (1) the formalism of canonical systems for defining the syntax of a computer language and its translation into a target language, and (2) the formalisms of the lambda-calculus and extended Markov algorithms as a combined formalism used as the basis of a target language for defining the semantics of a computer language. Formal definitions of the syntax and semantics of SNOBOL/1 and ALGOL/60 are included as examples of the approach. (Author)