Questions tagged [programming-languages]
Questions related to design, implementation, and analysis of programming languages. NOT for questions about how to program, which are off-topic on this site.
999 questions
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How to write the Python Program for the following condition?
How to write a Python Program for the following condition:
Let me explain how I tried to write the code.
$a=$ int$($input$($'enter the first integer between $1$ and $9$'$))$
$b=$ int$($input$($'enter ...
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How does an interpreted language handle forward references?
An interpreted language is executed one statement at a time, as they are encountered, similar to sequential operations on a calculator.
This is as opposed to a compiled language, in which the entire ...
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What Are The Pre-processing Steps for CNN Text Classification?
I am currently doing a project where I am using a CNN for text classification on tweet data but am unsure of what pre-processing steps need to be taken before the actual model is coded. I can't seem ...
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I am designing my own modular programming language. Am I right on memory management strategy?
To ease memory management in C, I will move OR let all memory allocation of every module of the program into a single function and expect them to be working without problem. I am not sure if it works ...
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Why [b] → Int < a → Int holds according to the contravariant manner for function types but length is a counter example for that
In the paper Practical type inference for arbitrary-rank types, the covariance and contravariance rules are essential when dealing with function types. Covariance applies to the return types of ...
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Reference counting operation insertion in syntax tree
This question might be too open-ended, but I can't seem to find any resources online.
When implementing reference counting as a form of GC in a language, how do you know when to increase/decrease ...
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Completeness of bidirectional type checking by inversion
I'm currently reading through the completeness proof of the paper "Complete and Easy Bidirectional Typechecking for Higher-Rank Polymorphism" by Dunfield et al.
In the second case Dunfield ...
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2
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Exception handling: 'catch' without explicit 'try'
I'm working on a new general-purpose programming language. Exception handling is supposed to be like in Rust, but simpler. I'm specially interested in feedback for exception handling (throw, catch).
...
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Are my ideas good enough to be hired by programming design groups?
Am I having any chance if I implement a system programming from scratch? I have some ideas. The first is to fix malloc in C. Add a last parameter to all function calls, use LINE and ThreadId and make ...
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Compile vs Runtime Binding
I have java code. In first example, it is said that compile time binding is here, But in second example,
...
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How to prove a function is a bijection (name mangling)?
I'm writing a compiler for a subset of Java, which does not permit overloading (but it does permit overriding). Static functions outside of main are not allowed.
We'...
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What is the difference between software development and software engineering?
What is the difference between software development and software engineering?
And What are the foundations of each one of them?
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can programming language be described by ambiguous grammar, if yes, will that cause any problem?
When someone tries to formally describe the syntax of programming languages, they describe with context-free grammar, then for every program we can derive parse tree that would correspond to that ...
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How to convert wp equations into linear algebra equations?
I am reading this paper [1], wherein the authors first formulated a safety constraint in terms of wp equations. Then, they converted the equations into linear algebra form.
As per section 4.3, their ...
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How are PCFGs used in programming language design?
I've been reading the wikipedia article about probabilistic context-free grammars (PCFGs), and they state that
PCFGs have application in areas as diverse as natural language processing to the study ...
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Reference types
Is a reference type (agnostic of PL) the object being pointed at, or the object doing the pointing?
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the concept fundamentally (of course, I have ...
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What is the precise difference between state and environment and memory?
I was just reading this question regarding the difference between environment and memory. However, the textbook in question, Essentials of Programming Languages, third edition, by Friedman and Wand, ...
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Creating an executable after code generation - compiler design
I am learning about and building a very basic compiler. My question is about code generation. I have read on a lot of materials about code generation when building a compiler and I get the concept.
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How are conflicts between free and bound de Bruijn indices resolved?
On page 77 (section 6.1) of Types and Programming Languages by Benjamin C. Pierce (1st and only edition thus far), there is the following quote regarding naming contexts and de Bruijn indices:
Γ = x ...
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How to deal with missing variables when utilizing weakest precondition for verification?
I am reading the example given in [1], section 4.2. It deals with applying weakest precondition (wp) rules to ensure that the velocity of a car doesn't exceed a certain limit. We have the following ...
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How did this work apply weakest precondition rule on their example car problem?
While reading the example given in [1]., I couldn't understand how the authors set up the logic to compute the weakest preconditions (wp) in their car example in section 4.2.
The dynamics of the ...
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Returning more than one value from a function without overhead
In stack languages (e.g. PostScript, Forth), return values are passed on the stack - zero, one, even a variable number.
Python supports tuples of values there, frequently used "without tuple ...
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Formal Proofs for Rust-related Programming Languages Paper
I've done some PL-related work in Rust that requires some proofs to guarantee the resulting language is free of data races. I'd like to include such work in a paper, but I'm not sure whether I should ...
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Results of a Program After Call By Reference Vs. Call By Value-Result
I have a question that I am trying to work through. I have a program:
...
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Guess the output of a c program [closed]
I have come across a c program like this .
int main()
{
int a,i=4;
int z=5;
a=--i+ --i+ --z;
printf("%d %d",a,i);
return 0;
}
What will be ...
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2
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In the simulation of a C-program by a Turing machine, how does a TM determine which instruction to execute?
In Arora-Barak, the authors mention a way how TMs can compute everything that can be computed by computers. The idea is that every high-level language program has an equivalent machine language ...
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What is the earliest compiler in chain that was used to create what we nowadays have as a modern C compiler?
My apologies if the title is confusing. First I begin with the statement that may be wrong but what I always thought what happened.
"Dennis Ritchie created C compiler which was used to create ...
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1
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Is there any reference materials on complexity analysis for lazy languages?
Is there any books, papers or articles on how to analyze the time complexity of programs written in lazy languages such as Haskell?
I know how laziness is implemented and how it can be expanded and ...
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0
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A formula of the major garbage collection threshold
I'm studying the garbage collection code of Alex Aiken's COOL programming language's runtime system.
(This is the language used in a relatively famous Stanford Online Compilers course)
A major garbage ...
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How to evaluate an arbitrary mathematical expression
For Instance, if I allowed the user to pass in expressions like "35 + 2 * 5" as strings, how would I go about writing such a program?
Also, what topics does this question fall under?
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how to do incremental construction of the minimal model in logic programming?
I was reading a book titled "Essentials of Logic Programming.", most parts of the book are easy to understand. but now having a problem with Theme 45: incremental constructions of the ...
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Is it possible for Mojo language to include multiple dispatch feature of Julia through some hints or decorators mechanism? [closed]
Can the strengths of Mulitple Dispatch system of Julia language be replicated in a newly designed language like Mojo through cleverly designed mechanism? Or only Julia gets to have such a feature due ...
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Can you verify the end of a function declaration through syntax analysis?
In some languages, it is expected that a function declaration be terminated by syntax that includes the function name. For example, in MODULA-2, a function is declared as shown below:
PROCEDURE P ;
...
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Datatypes and number representaton
I'm a freshman in computer science and I have a question that has been bugging me after my programming and electronics classes were over.
My question is that in an integer datatype (assume short ...
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Metaprogramming language
Is there any programming language, by which I can write a code that during run time automatically generates so many other codes and furthermore those codes will be run in parallel?
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Show that if <S1;S2,s> => * s', it is not necessarily the case that <S1,s> =>* s'
I am studying Structural Semantics for programming languages and I have come to this proof that I can not achieve.
Whith these rules plus Splitting and No interference, I am trying to get a proof.
I ...
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4
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Can we ever achieve Turing completeness?
I want to relate Turing completeness to the Halting Problem.
As far as I know we say something is turing complete (eg: a programming language) when it can compute any function and can do any task. But ...
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What are the conditions necessary for a programming language to have no undefined behavior?
For context, yesterday I posted Does the first incompleteness theorem imply that any Turing complete programming language must have undefined behavior?. Part of what prompted me to ask that question ...
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Does the first incompleteness theorem imply that any Turing complete programming language must have undefined behavior?
If I understand correctly, the first incompleteness theorem says that any "effectively axiomatized" formal system which is consistent must contain theorems which are independent of the ...
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Resources on designing query languages
I'm looking for resources (books, papers, tutorials) on designing domain-specific query languages. I'm mostly interested in the design of syntax and grammar, rather than the implementation. Any UX-...
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What is the closest theory to "The theory of code refactoring"?
We refactor code lots of times as developers. Metaphorically, our program space is an infinite-dimensional Rubik's cube. Things can be rearranged, preserving the code's action, so a "symmetry ...
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Algorithms/Data-Structures to calculate transitive call graphs in the presence of virtual dispatch?
Algorithms/Data-Structures to calculate transitive call graphs in the presence of virtual dispatch?
I am trying to write a program to analyze Java programs and figure out the
transitive closure of the ...
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Is there a theoretical foundation behind CSS?
You know how programming languages can be based on Lambda Calculus or the Turing Machine and SQL is based on relational algebra. Is there any such thing for CSS or any foundation that could be used ...
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What does it take to support a programming language on an OS?
From my understanding, something like Linux is very geared towards C programs, with things like libc. What I'm wondering is, even in Java, you have arguments to ...
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Explanation of a simple example of how an interaction net computes?
I have briefly looked through the links at the bottom of this page:
Interaction Nets
Interaction Combinators
Implementation of a low-level language for interaction nets, Shinya Sato
Inpla, ...
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Does exist another models like CARDIAC, LMC and IPC?
I'm working with CARDIAC (Cardboard Illustrative Aid to Computation) that is a model created at Bell Labs in 1968 to explain students how the computers worked with the Von Neumann architecture to ...
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Why do we use main function in almost all the programming languages?
Why do we need the main function and can't we execute the code without it?
Can't we just execute our code outside the main function by making our own function?
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What name is used in the literature for an interpreter or compiler which compiles and executes all function calls which have constant literal inputs?
In the following discussion, we use the term old programming language to refer to programming languages which had their first release prior to the year 1990.
In old programming languages, there was a ...
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Structural equivalence of self-referential structures
Given two types, T1 and T2, how does structural equivalence work when they're self-referential? Further, how do we go about proving it?
...
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Function types in Computer Science Metanotation
See Guy Steele's slides for what I refer to by "Computer Science Metanotation", specifically the bits about BNF.
I often make use of the BNF syntax observed there, as a substitute for ...
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