68
votes
Accepted
Are modern programming languages context-free?
Practically no programming language, modern or ancient, is truly context-free, regardless of what people will tell you. But it hardly matters. Every programming language can be parsed; otherwise, it ...
- 11.7k
24
votes
Accepted
Which other programming languages apart from Python and predecessor are out there using indentation to define code blocks?
Wikipedia has an extensive list of languages that use the off-side rule1:
ABC
Boo
BuddyScript
Cobra
CoffeeScript
Converge
Curry
Elixir (, do: ...
- 608
13
votes
Accepted
Break keyword outside a loop is syntax error or semantic error?
Both work, so how you do it is up to you. But there are a couple of reasons to consider doing it during a post-parse analysis:
While it is certainly possible to define two different types of ...
- 11.7k
10
votes
Which other programming languages apart from Python and predecessor are out there using indentation to define code blocks?
There are: Elm, Haskell, its predecessor Miranda and its predecessor ISWIM,
YAML where spaces are crucial for syntax and tabs are forbidden, OCCAM, Coffee script and Cokescript both are language to ...
- 9,385
9
votes
Accepted
Is there a correspondence between the syntaxes and the type systems of programming languages?
You seem to have a misunderstanding of the purpose of abstract binding trees (ABTs). They are a tool for describing syntax, much like abstract syntax trees (ASTs). They simply allow you to describe ...
- 11.9k
8
votes
Is type-checking "syntactic" or "semantic"?
Although I personally would describe type analysis as semantic, this question seems to start with the assumption that there is a clear, formally-definable dividing line between "syntax" and "semantics"...
- 11.7k
7
votes
Why is the syntax of some programming languages very much not according to earlier conventions?
Today, most people who learn a programming language know very little mathematical notation and are more familiar with other programming languages, and with symbols that are available on their computer ...
7
votes
Accepted
Are syntax and semantic just 2 structures such that one is a model of the other?
I am afraid the phrasing of the question misled me (though I did know
better) in first seeing model theory as applying to any two arbitrary
mathematical structures, and being the study of ...
- 19.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Relation between "syntax" and "grammar" in CS
Your quote has the following operational meaning for syntax in the context of programming languages:
The syntax of a programming language is the set of all syntactically valid programs.
The syntax ...
- 274k
6
votes
Accepted
Examples of context sensitive syntactic constructs (statements)
Here are three context-sensitive syntaxes actually found in programming languages. I don't believe I've ever seen a language which has types, names and values distributed as per your example, but it ...
- 11.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Why are syntax trees used in genetic programming?
In short: AST representations of programs are more easily analyzed,
manipulated, and transformed, while preserving and enforcing the existence of a
formally defined program meaning through the ...
- 19.3k
5
votes
Is type-checking "syntactic" or "semantic"?
(From my limited experience) I would certainly call type-soundness a semantic property of a program, rather than a syntactic one.
In some dynamic languages (e.g., lisp, python sans type annotations &...
- 645
5
votes
Accepted
Relation between programming languages requiring declaration of variables before use and using the token class $\text{id}$ while parsing
In order for their example to work, the authors need identifiers to be of unlimited length. This is because the language
$$ \{ wcw : w \in \{a,b\}^*, |w| \leq n \} $$
is context-free (indeed, regular)....
- 274k
4
votes
Are syntax and semantic just 2 structures such that one is a model of the other?
It all very much depends on how you model these concepts where syntax end and semantics start. When the syntax is described using a context free grammar, then there are aspects of the language not ...
- 1,833
4
votes
Accepted
How to read BNF syntax of C?
Backus Normal Form does not define special syntax for %token. So that would be a special syntax custom-added by a particular person or web page or tool. Tool ...
D.W.♦
- 152k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the relation between syntax and type theory?
The division line between syntax and additional type checking can indeed be blurred, if so desired, but usually we make a distinction as follows:
the syntax is described using a formal grammar, ...
- 29.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Simple example for Higher Order Abstract Syntax (λ-tree syntax)
Well, this is a bit broad but the basic idea is the following. In First-order abstract syntax (FOAS) we model lambda terms following their syntax tree. E.g., in Coq we would write
...
- 14.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Why postfix arithmetic expression is not ambiguous?
With operator precedence infix is not ambiguous. Brackets are a convenience but not necessary to form an expression. However when parsing you have to resolve each precedence level in precedence ...
- 206
4
votes
Programming Thompson's algorithm: How to represent a NFA?
If you look closely, Thompson's R.E. to NFA algorithm is carefully tuned to be able to use a simple linked structure: a state is a node, it has one leaving transition on a symbol, or two on $\epsilon$ ...
- 13.8k
4
votes
Which other programming languages apart from Python and predecessor are out there using indentation to define code blocks?
Make fits your description, even though it probably isn't quite what you have in mind, with its limited syntax and power.
It infamously indicates its code blocks (recipes) with a particular form of ...
- 5,179
4
votes
What are the modern alternatives to Backus–Naur form and what are their advantages?
Answer 1: The question is meaningless as written.
You are mixing different kinds of notations here that are intended for different purposes.
BNF and ABNF are concrete notations for writing the ...
- 3,443
4
votes
Accepted
What does "lookahead" refer to?
"A good driver drives in three cars. His own car, the car behind him, and the car in front of him". (Bertold Brecht).
"Lookahead" is what you do when you drive a car. You look ...
- 27.4k
4
votes
How is `y λx.x y` parsed using the standard pure untyped lambda calculus conventions?
The left associativity of applications is only relevant when you have a sequence of applications. If it were correct to interpret y λx.x y as ...
- 1,816
4
votes
Are modern programming languages context-free?
The boundary between context-free and context-sensitive is only determined by one thing: whether or not it can be decided with a nondeterministic pushdown automata.
With respect to grammar ...
- 151
3
votes
Do the following concepts belong to syntax or semantics?
It's not really a good idea to try to divide everything in PL into "syntax" and "semantics". Often we mix things. Nevertheless, as for your question, we normally divide things up like this:
terms, ...
- 29.4k
3
votes
Why is BNF considered an unsatisfactory technique for describing a language?
I do not think that the semantics play a role. Your quote asks for "discover better methods of describing the syntax than BNF." Of course, things like function and variable names form part of the ...
- 777
3
votes
Accepted
Why is BNF considered an unsatisfactory technique for describing a language?
You mention one reason.
The other reason is that the syntax of programming languages isn't context-free, unless you define syntax to be that which can be, or is, described by a context-free grammar.
...
- 5,179
3
votes
Accepted
Which part of Go(lang) is in Crystal(lang)?
I simply asked @asterite, one of the developers of Crystal, at IRC #crystal-lang (the log is here).
He said the answer is CSP, the concurrency model. For example, both Go and Crystal use channels for ...
- 987
3
votes
Why are syntax trees used in genetic programming?
Syntax trees provide an abstract representation of a program with a certain kind of type information at each vertex. This allows, when attempting to evolve a program, the swapping/changing of subtrees ...
- 17.9k
3
votes
What are the known ambiguities in C language grammar?
Not sure if this answers your question, but I will contribute two details regarding lexing/parsing ambiguities in C in general. I hope these are still helpful.
Consider the expression ...
- 772
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible