The Logic and Function of Programming Languages

Описание: Get into the foundational concepts of programming language design and implementation! This comprehensive module review breaks down the characteristics of the four major programming paradigms and explores advanced features in C, C++, Scheme, and Prolog. We examine the core criteria used to evaluate languages, such as reliability, readability, writability, reusability, and efficiency.

You will learn how programs are viewed across the lexical, syntactic, contextual, and semantic structural layers, with type checking being a key part of the contextual structure,.

🛠️ Imperative & Object-Oriented Programming (C/C++)
Explore the world of Imperative/Procedural languages like C, which focus intensely on how to execute a program step-by-step,. We clarify critical memory management distinctions:
• Pointers vs. References: A pointer stores a memory address, can be reassigned, and allows arithmetic, while a reference is an immutable alias for an existing variable that cannot be null,,.
• Memory Allocation: We contrast memory usage across static memory (for global and static variables), the stack (for non-static local variables), and the heap (for dynamically allocated variables using new or malloc),.
• OOP Principles: Understand core C++ features like encapsulation of state, inheritance (the "is-a" relationship), and the need for virtual classes when dealing with multiple inheritance to prevent ambiguity. We also cover the C++ exception handling mechanism, noting that a thrown value is matched to a catch handler based on its data type,.

💻 Functional Programming (Scheme)
The Functional paradigm focuses on what is wanted, providing a higher level of abstraction closer to mathematical functions,. Key concepts center on purity and control:
• No Side-Effects: Functional programming enforces referential transparency (no side-effects),.
• Scope and Binding: The let-form is introduced as a mechanism to create local names (bindings) whose scope is strictly limited to the declaration's body,,.
• Lambda: Discover how the let-form is actually syntactic sugar for applying an unnamed/lambda procedure immediately.

🧠 Logic Programming (Prolog)
Master the Declarative/Logic paradigm (Prolog) where you focus on describing what the problem is, relying on the environment to find solutions,,.
• Prolog Structure: Programs are organized as a built-in database of facts (axioms), rules (for inference), and queries (goals),.
• Unification: A goal matches a fact only if they have the same predicate, the same arity (number of arguments), and matching corresponding arguments.
• Variables: A Prolog variable is a place holder that is instantiated during the search process, distinct from a memory location in imperative languages.

• Advanced Topics: We show how recursive rules are built using the four-step abstract approach and how problems like the Change Machine Problem are solved using membership rules and arithmetic conditions (generate-and-test),. Flow control mechanisms like Cut (!), which removes backtracking points to restrict possible solutions, are also covered