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Semantic charts: A diagrammatic approach to semantic processing

Authors:

James R. Cordy,

Richard C. Holt,

David B. WortmanAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 14, Issue 8

Pages 39 - 49

https://doi.org/10.1145/872732.806952

Published: 01 August 1979 Publication History

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Abstract

This paper describes a technique for implementing the part of a compiler that processes the semantics of a programming language. It presents a concise, easy to understand notation for describing this semantic processing. The notation utilizes semantic charts which are similar to the separable transition diagrams [Conway63, Barnard75] that are used to define the syntax of programming languages. The charts describe semantic processing in terms of a set of operations that manipulate a small number of special-purpose data structures. They form a variable-free programming language, which accesses data via a set of operations organized into mechanisms to manage the associated data structure. These mechanisms can be modelled (and thus formalized) using abstract data types.

References

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Conway, M.E.; Design of a Separable Transition Diagram Compiler, CACM 6,7 (July 1963) 396-408.

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Cordy, J.R.; A Diagrammatic Approach to Programming Language Semantics, M.Sc. thesis, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto (March 1976). (Reprinted as Technical Report CSRG-67, Computer Systems Research Group, University of Toronto.)

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Index Terms

Semantic charts: A diagrammatic approach to semantic processing
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
2. Theory of computation
  1. Semantics and reasoning
    1. Program semantics

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

ACM SIGPLAN Notices Volume 14, Issue 8

Proceedings of the 1979 SIGPLAN symposium on Compiler construction

August 1979

234 pages

ISSN:0362-1340

EISSN:1558-1160

DOI:10.1145/872732

Issue’s Table of Contents

SIGPLAN '79: Proceedings of the 1979 SIGPLAN symposium on Compiler construction
August 1979
241 pages
ISBN:0897910028
DOI:10.1145/800229
Chairman:
Stephen C. Johnson

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 August 1979

Published in SIGPLAN Volume 14, Issue 8

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Abstract

References

Index Terms

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