Facilitating the Definition of Programming Languages by Using Parametric Context Free Grammars
نویسندگان
چکیده
In this paper we propose the use of a new kind of grammars which we call para metric context free grammars PCFG for the formal de nition of programming languages It combines the simplicity of ordinary context free grammars with expressive power and context sensitivity that is encountered in signi cantly more complex formal models As an example we consider a small programming language and present a simple and elegant formal de nition of its syntax and semantics The language is based on the principles of Reynolds Idealized Algol and combines a number of orthogonal features introduced one at a time Compared to related literature our approach di ers in providing i a rigid mathematical model for the de nition of syntax emphasizing orthogonality and ii a methodology for systematically augmenting the semantic de nition of programming languages by adding orthogonal features in a modular and elegant way
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