Programing Language Semantics

    "The semantics of a programming language describe the relationship between the syntax and the model of computation."

    The formal semantics of a programming language is the handbook for the engineer who has to understand not only how to use the language but how it works. It provides a rigorous specification of how the programs are executed, which reveals the ambiguities and subtleties hidden behind of the crystal clear language used in the programming manuals, but which usually appear in practice.

    Semantics is concerned with the interpretation or understanding of programs and how to predict the outcome of program execution. The semantics of a programming language describe the relation between the syntax and the model of computation.

    Semantics can be thought of as a function which maps syntactical constructs to the computational model (syntax --> computational model).

    There are several widely used techniques (algebraic, axiomatic, denotational, operational, and action) for the description of the semantics of programming languages.