Dynamics of Programming Languages

1 Unit · Graduate

The goal of this course is to introduce you to the semantics of programming languages (PLs). While CS 321 explains the meaning for different PL features, such as store and control, through interpreters, this course gives them meaning using simple math. And by simple, I mean as simple as high-school algebra. Hence, the course will help you build a foundational understanding of PLs by breaking them down to their most basic ingredients without having to go through PLAI or another meta language. In other words, the course will teach you how to construct mathematical models of PLs. Moreover, because of their mathematical and foundational nature, these models will enable you to describe precisely properties of PLs that in CS 321 we only talked about in an intuitive manner.