Fields
Programming Language Theory
Also Known As PLT
Field of Study
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Programming language theory is the branch of computer science that deals with the design, implementation, analysis, characterization and classification of programming languages. Its deepest root predates electronic computers: the lambda calculus, developed by Alonzo Church and Stephen Cole Kleene in the 1930s, is considered by some to be the world's first programming language, and it still anchors how the field reasons about computation and meaning.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearThe lambda calculus, developed by Alonzo Church and Stephen Cole Kleene in the 1930s, is considered by some to be the world's first programming language and the field's mathematical root; Noam Chomsky's 1956 work on formal grammars is a second, later origin point some scholars use instead. Core ConcernWhat programming languages can express, how they are given precise meaning, and how they are designed and implemented. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
John Backus, Pioneers John Backus led the team that designed Fortran and co-developed Backus-Naur Form, the notation for formally specifying a programming language's grammar that underlies most later work in programming language theory.
Includes
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Programming Language Theory
Wikimedia FoundationOpening and History sectionsQuote, Opening and History sections
Programming language theory (PLT) is a branch of computer science that deals with the design, implementation, analysis, characterization, and classification of formal languages known as programming languages.
1. Wikipedia: Programming Language Theory
Wikimedia FoundationHistory sectionQuote, History section
The lambda calculus, developed by Alonzo Church and Stephen Cole Kleene in the 1930s, is considered by some to be the world's first programming language.
1. Wikipedia: Programming Language Theory
Wikimedia FoundationOpening sectionQuote, Opening section
Programming language theory (PLT) is a branch of computer science
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Wikipedia: Standard ML
ACM A.M. Turing Award Citations
Association for Computing MachineryAssociated With: John BackusView the Source Wikipedia: Garbage collection (computer science)
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Garbage Collection, History sectionView the Source Wikipedia: Formal Methods
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Formal Methods, Fundamentals sectionQuote, Associated With: Formal Methods, Fundamentals section
Formal methods employ a variety of theoretical computer science fundamentals, including logic calculi, formal languages, automata theory, control theory, program semantics, type systems, and type theory.
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