Definition of programming languages using transformational semantics
Date
1982
Authors
Edwards, Stephen John
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Abstract
One method of implementing a high- level language is to translate
programs written in it to an intermediate language and interpret the
object programs in that intermediate language on the target machine .
For an efficient implementation the design of the intermediate
language will depend on both the high- level language and the target
machine . The idea that an intermediate language suited to the
high- level language and a particular target machine can be generated
automatically from descriptions of that language and machine is
introduced in this thesis. This requires an "interpreter generator" to
produce, from the two descriptions , the high- level language compiler
producing intermediate language code, and an interpreter for that
intermediate language on the target machine . Such a system is
discussed in an appendix . This thesis develops a method for describing
a high-level language designed for use in the context of an
interpreter generator. This method describes a given language by translating it to a target language with known semantics, that is, by transformational
semantics . The translation is defined by a high- level programming
lan uage desi ned for the purpose . The target language is not machine
orien ed and this reduces the possibility of the description method
affectin the perceived structure of the high- level language . Four
example definitions , one of a subset of Pascal , are given in appendices . Emphasis is placed on designing a practical , rather than
theoretical , high- level language description method . The proposed way
in which the intermediate language might be extracted from such a
description is outlined by a number of examples .
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