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Part 3 - Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics

This document discusses three aspects of programming languages: syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Syntax refers to the grammar and structure of a language. Semantics describes the meaning and functionality of language constructs. Pragmatics relates to how suitable a language is for different problems. The document provides examples of syntactic and semantic differences between languages like C and Pascal and explains how the design of a language's syntax and semantics influence how programs are written, read, and understood.

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John Abaya
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562 views

Part 3 - Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics

This document discusses three aspects of programming languages: syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Syntax refers to the grammar and structure of a language. Semantics describes the meaning and functionality of language constructs. Pragmatics relates to how suitable a language is for different problems. The document provides examples of syntactic and semantic differences between languages like C and Pascal and explains how the design of a language's syntax and semantics influence how programs are written, read, and understood.

Uploaded by

John Abaya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Three aspects of language

Syntax is the required grammar and


punctuation of the language
Compile-time errors are syntax errors

Semantics is all about meaning--what the


statements do, what the programs do
Logic errors are semantic errors

Pragmatics has to do with whats good and


bad about a language or program

Syntax examples
FORTRAN statements are one per line;
modern languages are free-format
Pascal uses semicolons between statements;
C uses semicolons after statements
Pascal uses beginend to group statements;
C uses { and }
Pascal uses the keyword integer; C uses int

Another syntax example


C:
if (x > y) x = x-1; else y--;
Pascal: if x > y then x := x-1 else y := y-1;
Differences: parentheses around x > y, the
word then, = or :=, semicolon before else, - These are syntactic differences; the meanings
are identical

The importance of syntax


Correct syntax is obviously important; if you
dont get it right, your program wont run
In a sense, syntax is trivial; you learn it, you
fix it until its right, end of story
But the syntax of a language greatly affects:
how easy it is to write programs
how easy it is to read and understand programs
how easy it is to make hard-to-see syntax errors

Examples of poor syntax


In FORTRAN, variables dont have to be
declared
Therefore, every misspelling is a new variable

In Pascal, semicolons go between statements


Therefore, adding a statement to a block
involves adding a semicolon to the previous line

An example of good syntax


In Ada, control statements have the form
ifend if, whileend while, caseend
case, etc.
This helps avoid the confusion (in C) resulting
from large groups of anonymous closing braces

Syntax is usually more important for


reading and understanding programs than
for writing them

Why syntax matters


C:

if (x < y)
temp = x;
x = y;
y = temp;

Ada:
if x < y then
temp := x;
x := y;
y := temp
end if;

The C version has a bug that almost never occurs in Ada

Semantics
Semantics has to do with the meaning of
constructs in a language, and the meanings
of programs written in that language
Semantics is fundamental to everything you
do in a language
Syntax is just the code you use to
describe the semantics

High-level semantics
Semantics can affect things at a very high
level:
C is a procedural language; you describe a set
of procedures to follow
Java is an object-oriented language; you
describe objects and their behaviors
Prolog is a logic language; you describe facts
and the logical relationships among them

Low level semantics


Semantics can affect things at a very low level:
C:
do { x = 2*x; } while (x < 100);
Pascal: repeat x := 2*x until x >= 100;

Notice that the sense of the test is different: C


exits the loop when the condition becomes
false, Pascal when it becomes true

Syntax supports semantics


A language cannot have semantics without
syntax to support those semantics
C couldnt have a for loop without syntax
Java couldnt have objects without syntax
for creating and using them
This doesnt mean that for loops and
objects are syntactic constructs!

Syntax is typographical
Syntax describes the way we write programs as
a sequence of characters
Syntax can be precisely and formally defined
by BNF (Backus-Naur Form)
A language in the usual sense is a sequence of
characters (or sounds) and requires syntax
BUT you can do many language-like things
with a GUI and no real syntax

Semantics is fundamental
Semantics affects the very way we think about
programming
Someone once said, You can write a FORTRAN
program in any language.
This is a poor way to program
You can use a language, or you can fight with it
If you are fighting with a language, you are either
using the wrong language, or
using the language wrong

Thinking in the language


In C, functional decomposition is the
preferred way to write a program
In Java, functional decomposition is one of
the worst ways to write a program
In Java, you need to:
Choose your set of objects carefully
Decide the behaviors of each kind of object
Decide how objects communicate and interact

Goals of this course


A primary goal of this course is to introduce
you to different ways of thinking about
programming
It is essential to understand the genius of a
language, and to work with it, not against it
You have to learn the syntax of a language
well enough that you can concentrate on the
semantics

Pragmatics
Pragmatics has to do with how well the
language connects to the real world
Semantics supports pragmatics: some kinds
of languages are better for some kinds of
problems
The choice of a language should depend on
pragmatic considerations

Examples of pragmatics
C is fast because it does so little error checking
Java programs are less buggy because they
spend so much time on error checks
Perl is good for CGI scripts because it has
powerful tools for string processing
Java is a better choice for me than C++
because I know Java better

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