15-812(A): PROGRMMING LANGUAGE SEMANTICS
INSTRUCTOR: John C. Reynolds
UNITS: 12
SPRING 2008

MW 1:30-2:50 - Wean Hall 4615A

DESCRIPTION:

We survey the theory behind the design, description, and implementation of
programming languages, and of methods for specifying and verifying program
behavior.  Both imperative and functional programming languages are
covered, as well as ways of integrating these paradigms into more general
languages

Coverage will include:

- program specification and proof
    (including Hoare logic, weakest preconditions, and separation logic)

  - concurrent programming
    (including shared-variable and message-passing approaches)

  - functional programing
    (including continuations and lazy evaluation)

  - type systems
    (including subtyping, polymorphism, and modularization)

In exploring these topics, we will use a variety of fundamental concepts
and techniques, such as compositional semantics, binding structure,
domains, transition systems, and inference rules.