Formal descriptions of semantics have so far failed to match the acceptance and popularity of formal descriptions of syntax. Thus, in current standards for programming languages, syntax is usually described formally but semantics informally, despite the greater danger of impreciseness in the description of semantics. Possible reasons for this state of affairs are discussed. Action Semantics, which has been developed from Denotational Semantics and Abstract Semantic Algebras, has some features that may make it more attractive than other semantic formalisms. This paper describes and motivates Action Semantics, and gives some realistic examples of its use.
<p>Two new formalisms are introduced: extended attribute grammars, which are capable of defining completely the syntax of programming languages, and extended attributed trans!ation grammars, which are additionally capable of defining their semantics by translation. These grammars are concise and readable, and their suitability for language definition is demonstrated by a realistic example. The suitability of a large class of these grammars for compiler construction is also established, by borrowing the techniques already developed for attribute grammars and affix grammars.</p><p>Revised version of Glasgow Report No.10</p>
Abstract. Given the action-semantic description of a source language, ACTRESS generates a compiler. The generated compiler translates its source program first to an action, and then to object code. Transformations of the intermediate action greatly improve the efficiency of the object code. This paper studies these transformations.
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