The Next 700 Programming Languages
đ Abstract
Much of the work of a programmer can be regarded as the organization and naming of a set of functions. This paper. progresses a step towards a comprehensive, if informal, basis for a rational theory of programming languages. The particular class of languages investigated are the 'pure' or 'basic' ones. However, the main original contribution of the paper is a simple and succinct basis for the design of a large family of more complex languages. The relevant design concepts are represented by the 'abstract syntax' and 'equational definition' of languages. The paper also includes a corresponding model of how things go on during the computation described by a program in one of these languages. Several other topics are also treated (for example, sequential processes, imperative features).
⨠Summary
P.J. Landinâs seminal paper âThe Next 700 Programming Languagesâ fundamentally shaped the landscape of programming language design and influenced the introduction of new concepts in computing. The paper proposes a theoretical framework based on âabstract syntaxâ and âequational definitionâ for interpreting programming languages, which later influenced the development of declarative and functional programming paradigms. It set the foundation for how programming languages are conceptualized today, particularly impacting the Lisp family of languages by introducing ideas that stress the importance of concise language syntax and clear semantics.
Landinâs contributions through this paper helped shape thinking around computational processes and language design. His work underscored the significance of lexical scoping, a concept that has found widespread adoption across most modern programming languages. The introduction of formal semantics became critical for language design and compiler development.
Moreover, Landinâs work has been cited in several subsequent research efforts and educational materials that delve into programming language theory, such as textbooks and research papers exploring formal language semantics. For instance, the influence of this paper can be seen in later works exploring the operational semantics of more complex language constructs as demonstrated by: 1) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01211564, 2) https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/359576.359579, and 3) https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/365230.365257.
Overall, the impact of Landinâs exploration into abstract syntax and language models has served as a cornerstone for both academic research into programming languages and practical language development efforts.