Abstract Interpretation as a Programming Language (2013)

68 points by Hirrolot 1 year ago | 6 comments
  • fjfaase 1 year ago
    Most of the references in this article are from decades ago. It feels like denotational semantics has not become the success is claimed to be. I studied the book: 'The Denotational Description of Programming Languages: An Introduction' by Michael J. C. Gordon from 1979 while studying computer science in the eighties.

    One of the references in the article, is a reference to the book: 'Denotational Semantics: A Methodology for Language Development' https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Andrew.Butterfield/Teaching/CS4003/D...

    • RaftPeople 1 year ago
      I took a Denotational Semantics course in college in the 80's. I was completely lost, despite going to class every day and trying to understand what they were teaching.

      I got a 37% on the mid-term and thought "holy f, this is a class I am not going to pass, wtf is going on?"

      I went to the prof during office hours, explained I'm confused, he asked to see my mid-term and exclaimed "Hey, you got the highest score!"

      To this day I can still see the gray skinny little textbook with the title "Denotational Semantics" and I still wonder "what the heck was that course about?"

      • GianFabien 1 year ago
        Same here. Still got the book on my bookshelf. Still don't get it. Never needed it.
      • zvr 1 year ago
        The article itself is more than a decade old: "Submitted on 20 Sep 2013".
      • Jtsummers 1 year ago
        https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~eptcs/content.cgi?DSS2013

        Other essays from the same occasion.

        • zvr 1 year ago
          Needs a "(2013)" in the HN title.
          • 1 year ago