CPS 343/543: Comparative Languages Lecture Notes

1. Fundamentals ([EOPL] Preface, Ch 1)
   1. introduction, course objectives and outline, and programming language paradigms [A Brief Introduction to Lisp, about closures]
   2. formal languages and grammars (Backus-Naur form) (§1.1)
   3. functional programming in Scheme (λ-calculus and S-expressions) (§1.2) [installing & using PLT Scheme, functional programming resources, The Scheme Programming Language]
   4. functional programming in Scheme (building data structures, such as binary trees, with lists)
   5. functional programming in Scheme (let, let*, letrec)
   6. variable binding and scope (§1.3)
   
   
2. Data abstraction ([EOPL] Ch 2)
   1. inductive data types and abstract syntax (§§2.1-2.2)
   2. representation strategies (list, abstract syntax, and procedural) (§§2.3-2.4)
   
   
3. Environment-passing interpreters ([EOPL] Ch 3, [PIH] Ch 4, 5, 12)
   1. front end, conditional evaluation, and local binding (§§3.1-3.4) [The Roots of LISP]
   2. (non-recursive) procedures and closures (§3.5)
   3. recursion (§3.6)
   4. variable assignment (§3.7)
   5. parameter-passing mechanisms (§3.8)
   6. lazy evaluation and thunks (call-by-name and call-by-need; [EOPL] §3.8)
   7. lazy evaluation in Haskell [installing & using HUGS98] ([PIH] Ch 4, 5, 12)
   8. statements and side effects (§3.9)
   
   
4. Types ([EOPL] Ch 4, [PIH] Ch 3, 7, 10, [EMLP] Ch 3, 5, 6, 8, [TLML])
   1. strong typing, type inference, and currying ([PIH] Ch 3, 7, [EMLP] Ch 3, 5) [installing & using SML-NJ]
   2. type systems (in Haskell; [PIH] Ch 10 and ML [structures, signatures, and functors]; [EMLP] Ch 6, 8)
   
   
5. Control ([EOPL] pp. 241-243, §8.1, [TSPL] §§3.2-3.4, [TSS] Ch 13, 19)
   1. continuations and call/cc [about continuations] ([TSPL] §3.3, [TSS] Ch 13)
   2. tail calls ([EOPL] pp. 241-243, [TSPL] §3.2) and continuation-passing style ([EOPL] §8.1, [TSPL] §3.4, [TSS] Ch 19)
   
   
6. Logic programming ([EOPL] §7.6)
   1. first-order predicate logic (Horn clauses, resolution, and unification; §7.6)
   2. logic programming in PROLOG (facts, rules, and goals) [A Brief Introduction to PROLOG, installing & using SWI-PROLOG, logic programming resources, Prolog Programming A First Course]
   3. logic programming in PROLOG (control and cut)
   
   
7. Object-oriented programming ([EOPL] pp. 169-171, [QTOL])
   1. message passing, dynamic binding, and reflection (pp. 169-171)
   2. Smalltalk and Squeak ([QTOL]) [A Brief Introduction to Smalltalk, installing & using Squeak, object-oriented programming resources]
   3. course reflection (terms and themes; ACM A.M. Turing award winners with contributions related to languages)

Appendix:
• course programming languages resources
• practice problems

---

References

[BITL]	G. J. Sussman, G.L. Steele, and R.P. Gabriel. A Brief Introduction to Lisp. ACM SIGPLAN Notices, 28(3), 361-362, 1993.
[COFP]	S. Thompson. Haskell: The Craft of Functional Programming. Addison-Wesley, Harlow, England, Second edition, 1999.
[COPL6]	R.W. Sebesta. Concepts of Programming Languages. Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA, Sixth edition, 2003.
[EMLP]	J.D. Ullman. Elements of ML Programming. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Second edition, 1997.
[EOPL2]	D.P. Friedman, M. Wand, and C.T. Haynes. Essentials of Programming Languages. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, Second edition, 2001.
[IALC]	J.E. Hopcroft, R. Motwani, and J.D. Ullman. Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation. Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA, Third edition, MA, 2001.
[PIH]	G. Hutton. Programming in Haskell. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007. ISBN: 0-521-69269-5.
[PLP]	M.L. Scott. Programming Language Pragmatics. Morgan Kaufmann, Amsterdam, Second edition, 2006.
[PLPP]	K.C. Louden. Programming Languages: Principles and Practice. Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, CA, Second edition, 2002.
[PPFC]	P. Burna. Prolog Programming A First Course.
[QTOL]	G. Korienek, T. Wrensch, D. Dechow. Squeak: A Quick Trip To ObjectLand. Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA, 2002.
[SICP]	H. Abelson and G.J. Sussman. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, Second edition, 1996.
[TLML]	M. Felleisen and D.P. Friedman. The Little MLer. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997.
[TLS]	D.P. Friedman and M. Felleisen. The Little Schemer. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, Fourth edition, 1996.
[TSPL]	R.K. Dybvig. The Scheme Programming Language. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, Third edition, 2003.
[TSS]	D.P. Friedman and M. Felleisen. The Seasoned Schemer. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996.
[UPE]	B.W. Kernighan and B. Pike. The UNIX Programming Environment Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1984.

---

© S. Perugini, Winter 2007, University of Dayton. Permission to use ideas about the organization of topics and any notes or material is granted, provided suitable acknowledgments and citations are made.

---