Concepts in Programming Languages elucidates the central concepts used in modern programming languages, such as functions, types, memory management, and control. The book is unique in its comprehensive presentation and comparison of major object-oriented programming languages. Separate chapters examine the history of objects, Simula and Smalltalk, and the prominent languages C++ and Java. The author presents foundational topics, such as lambda calculus and denotational semantics, in an easy-to-read, informal style, focusing on the main insights provided by these theories. Advanced topics include concurrency, concurrent object-oriented programming, program components, and inter-language interoperability. A chapter on logic programming illustrates the importance of specialized programming methods for certain kinds of problems.
Contents
Part I. Functions and Foundations: 1. Introduction; 2. Computability; 3. Lisp: functions, recursion and lists; 4. Fundamentals; Part II. Procedures, Types, Memory Management and Control: 5. The Algol family and ML; 6. Type systems and type inference; 7. Scope, functions and storage management; 8. Control in sequential languages; Part III. Modularity, Abstraction and Object-Oriented Programming: 9. Data abstraction and modularity; 10. Concepts in object-oriented languages; 11. History of objects: simula and smalltalk; 12. Objects and run-time efficiency: C++; 13. Portability and safety: Java; Part IV. Concurrency and Logic Programming: 14. Concurrent and distributed programming; 15. The logic programming paradigm and prolog by Krzysztof Apt; Appendix: additional programming examples; Glossary.
Reviews
"The book's three goals are achieved admirably: to discuss the design decisions and tradeoffs of various programming languages, to compare programming languages to deepen understanding, and to present language-specific programming techniques... This is the text one would use in a course on programming languages. Highly recommended." Choice
"It is an excellent book on programming languages, and one that lecturers would enjoy using and students would gain much from having and reading...The exercises are excellent, and range from basic exercises to ones that, if they don't inspire new careers, ought at least generate fine projects. ..I am sure this book will be a success and we will soon see further editions...Indeed it is an inspiring book." LTSN Book Reviews
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