15-812 Programming Language Semantics

12 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This lecture course introduces the foundational concepts and techniques of programming language semantics. The aim is to demonstrate the utility of a scientific approach, based on mathematics and logic, with applications to program analysis, language design, and compiler correctness. We introduce the concepts and techniques associated with the most well established and generally applicable frameworks for semantic description the denotational, operational, and axiomatic styles of semantic description. We use semantics to analyze program behavior, guide the development of correct programs, prove correctness of a compiler, validate logics for program correctness, and derive general laws of program equivalence. We will discuss a variety of imperative and functional languages, sequential and parallel, as time permits.

Prerequisites: none listed

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