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From: hans@cs.edinburgh.ac.uk ('Hans Huttel')
Newsgroups: comp.theory
Subject: Operational Semantics (Was:Re: "Models of Computation" course syllabus)
Message-ID: <2058@skye.cs.ed.ac.uk>
Date: 16 Nov 90 12:34:17 GMT
References: <18679.9011131440@olympus.cs.hull.ac.uk> <428@data.UUCP>
Sender: nnews@cs.ed.ac.uk
Reply-To: hans@cs.edinburgh.ac.uk ('Hans Huttel')
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh
Lines: 26

In article <428@data.UUCP>, kend@data.UUCP (Ken Dickey) writes:
> rst@cs.hull.ac.uk (Rob Turner) writes:

[ stuff on a proposed coure on Models of Computation down in Hull deleted ]

> >It will include discussions of the various programming language
> >paradigms, such as imperative, functional, logic, and object-oriented.
> >It will also deal with semantics.

> If you want to get into operational semantics (why?), you might look
> at Bauer & Wossner: "Algorighmic Language and Program Development",
> Springer Verlag, 1981 and the related project CIP transformation
> system for "wide spectrum" language development (Springer lecture
> notes #183 and #292).  I believe Pepper has a newer text along this
> line (also SpringerV), but I forget the title.

I think the approach to operational semantics that Rob Turner had in mind was that of Structural Operational Semantics (SOS). In this approach the relationship with denotational semantics is very clear. The classic here is of course the lecture notes by Gordon Plotkin, "A Structural Approach to Operational Semantics", Aarhus University 1980, but that report is out of print now. There is now, however, a book out by Matthew Hennessy (the publisher is Wiley; the title of the book escapes me right now). BTW, t





he notes used in the semantics courses here at Edinburgh are quite good, too.   

An aside (?): I don't think the title "Models of Computation" is such a bad choice; a course focussing on Turing machines, Markov algorithms etc. should be called "Models for Computability" if you ask me.

-- 
Hans H\"{u}ttel, Office 1603        JANET: hans@uk.ac.ed.lfcs
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