Composing Programming Languages by Combining Action-Semantics Modules

This article demonstrates a method for composing a programming language by combining action-semantics modules. Each module is defined separately, and then a programming-language module is defined by combining existing modules. This method enables the language designer to gradually develop a language by defining, selecting and combining suitable modules. The resulting modular structure is substantially different from that previously employed in action-semantic descriptions.

It also discusses how to resolve the conflicts that may arise when combining modules, and indicates some advantages that action semantics has over other approaches in this respect.

Abstract: