Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style?

Backus, J. W.

doi:10.1145/1283920.1283933

Cited by 352 publications

(474 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Peter's original idea (possibly inspired by Backus [1]) was to describe the semantics of a programming language's constructs using a set of abstract semantic entities, which he called actions [13,14]. Each action represents a computation that receives and produces information.…”

Section: Inspirationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Action Semantics in Retrospect

Watt

2009

Semantics and Algebraic Specification

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Abstract. This paper is a themed account of the action semantics project, which Peter Mosses has led since the 1980s. It explains his motivations for developing action semantics, the inspirations behind its design, and the foundations of action semantics based on unified algebras. It goes on to outline some applications of action semantics to describe real programming languages, and some efforts to implement programming languages using action semantics directed compiler generation. It concludes by outlining more recent developments and reflecting on the success of the action semantics project.

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Section: Inspirationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Action Semantics in Retrospect

Watt

2009

Semantics and Algebraic Specification

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“…(1967) [26] introduced the object abstraction to represent programming as a form of modelling. Backus (1979) [6] argued the need for a history sensitive mode of programming with the virtues of declarative programming. Neither programme has generated an entirely satisfactory programming style and their objectives do not seem to be convergent.…”

Section: Orientationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical Modelling and the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence

Beynon

1999

Computation for Metaphors, Analogy, and Agents

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Abstract. This paper proposes Empirical Modelling (EM) as a possible foundation for AI research outside the logicist framework. EM offers principles for constructing physical models, typically computer-based, by construing experience in terms of three fundamental concepts: observables, dependency and agency. EM is discussed in the context of critiques of logicism drawn from a variety of sources, with particular reference to the five foundational issues raised by Kirsh in his paper Foundations of AI: the Big Issues (AI, 47:3-30, 1991), William James's Essays on Radical Empiricism (Bison Books, 1996), and the controversy surrounding formal definitions for primitive concepts such as metaphor and agent that are recognised as fundamental for AI. EM principles are motivated and illustrated with reference to a historic railway accident that occurred at the Clayton Tunnel in 1861. The principal thesis of the paper is that logicist and non-logicist approaches to AI presume radically different ontologies. Specifically, EM points to a fundamental framework for AI in which experimentally guided construction of physical artefacts is the primary mode of knowledge representation. In this context, propositional knowledge is associated with phenomena that are perceived as circumscribed and reliable from an objective 'third-person' perspective. The essential need to incorporate subjective 'first-person' elements in an account of AI, and the role that commitment plays in attaching an objective meaning to phenomena, are seen to preclude a hybrid approach to AI in the conventional sense.

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“…Languages are being continuously extended, but not becoming stronger. Design focus has been on optimization and featurization rather than rectifying their defects at the most basic levels [7].…”

Section: Introduction "You Cannot Inspect Quality Into Products"mentioning

confidence: 99%

SAFE: A Programming Language for Software Quality

Oliver

Dromey

1995

Software Quality and Productivity

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A heavy responsibility for ensuring the quality of programs currently rests with progranuners. Existing languages do little to reduce this burden.Here a new imperative programming language called SAFE is introduced, which is designed to facilitate the construction of quality software. It shifts much of the unnecessary responsibility for ensuring quality away from the programmer and into the language.

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Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style?

Cited by 352 publications

References 19 publications

Action Semantics in Retrospect

Action Semantics in Retrospect

Empirical Modelling and the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence

SAFE: A Programming Language for Software Quality

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