Principles of Programming Languages (eBook)

The development of programming languages has radically modified our relation to language, complexity and machines. This book is an introduction to the principles around which these languages are organised - imperative constructions, functional constructions, reference, dynamic data types, objects and more. Using Java as a main language, but systematically comparing it to other languages it enables the reader to understand the unifying concepts that lie beneath each particular language and provides the tools that allow the students to adapt to new programming languages.

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By introducing the principles of programming languages, using the Java language as a support, Gilles Dowek provides the necessary fundamentals of this language as a first objective.It is important to realise that knowledge of a single programming language is not really enough. To be a good programmer, you should be familiar with several languages and be able to learn new ones. In order to do this, you'll need to understand universal concepts, such as functions or cells, which exist in one form or another in all programming languages. The most effective way to understand these universal concepts is to compare two or more languages. In this book, the author has chosen Caml and C.To understand the principles of programming languages, it is also important to learn how to precisely define the meaning ofa program, and tools for doing so are discussed. Finally, there is coverage of basic algorithms for lists and trees.Written for students, this book presents what all scientists and engineers should know about programming languages.