Programming language structures

from the preface: ''In their initial contact with computer programming, many students have been exposed to only one programming language. This book is designed to take such students further into thesubject of programming by emphasizing the structures of programming languages. The book introduces the reader to five important programming languages, Algol, Fortran, Lisp, Snobol, and Pascal, and develops an appreciation of fundamental similarities and ifferences among these languages. A unifying framework is constructed that can be used to study the structure of other languages, such as Cobol, PL/I, and APL. The book also has other objectives. For instance, it illustrates several of the tools and methodologies needed to construct large programs. Because similar interpreter structures and methods of data structuring and accessing are used to model not only programming languages but also computers, the book indirectly prepares the student to study computer organization. Working programmers whose everyday jobs confine them to a single language can use this book for self-study and gain a better perspective on the tools they now use.'' Programming Language Structures deals with the structures of programming languages and introduces the reader to five important programming languages: Algol, Fortran, Lisp, Snobol, and Pascal. The fundamental similarities and differences among these languages are discussed. A unifying framework is constructed that can be used to study the structure of other languages, such as Cobol, PL/I, and APL. Several of the tools and methodologies needed to construct large programs are also considered. Comprised of 10 chapters, this book begins with a summary of the relevant concepts and principles about algorithms, flowcharts, and computation that a student is expected to know from the first course. The discussion then turns to the semantics of procedure and function call as well as argument-parameter matching with various kinds of parameters; recursion and its relation to tree traversal; syntax formalism for context-free languages; and ALGOL 60 and block structuring. Case study programs are presented to reinforce the reader's understanding of ALGOL 60 and Fortran semantics. The remaining chapters deal with Lisp, Snobol, and Pascal. This monograph is intended for working programmers and students in computer science who have an interest in the subject of programming. Content: Front Matter, Page iii Copyright, Page iv Dedication, Page v PREFACE, Pages xiii-xviii 1 - BASIC CONCEPTS, Pages 2-55 2 - INTERFACING PROCEDURES, Pages 56-121 3 - RECURSION, Pages 122-183 4 - SYNTAX FORMALISM, Pages 184-191 Introduction to Syntax and Semantics of Several Major Programming Languages, Pages 193-194 5 - ALGOL, Pages 195-307 6 - FORTRAN, Pages 308-375 7 - LISP, Pages 376-463 8 - SNOBOL, Pages 464-518 9 - MULTISEQUENCE ALGORITHMS, Pages 519-559 10 - PASCAL, Pages 560-611 APPENDIX, Pages 612-617 BIBLIOGRAPHY, Pages 618-620 ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS, Pages 621-647 INDEX, Pages 649-659