computer science

Programming Language Design and Implementation

Programming Language Design and Implementation is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Programming Language Design and Implementation rather than just read about it. In short: The Programming Language Design and Implementation (PLDI) conference is an annual computer science conference organized by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) which focuses on the study of algorithms, programming languages and compilers. It is sponsored by the SIGPLAN special interest group on programming languages.

Key takeaways

Programming Language Design and Implementation belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Programming Language Design and Implementation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Programming Language Design and Implementation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Programming Language Design and Implementation (PLDI) conference is an annual computer science conference organized by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) which focuses on the study of algorithms, programming languages and compilers. It is sponsored by the SIGPLAN special interest group on programming languages. In 2003, the conference was given an estimated impact factor of 2.89 by CiteSeer, placing it in the top 1% of computer science conferences.

History The precursor of PLDI was the Symposium on Compiler Optimization, held July 27–28, 1970 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and chaired by Robert S. Northcote. That conference included papers by Frances E. Allen, John Cocke, Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman. The first conference in the current PLDI series took place in 1979 under the name SIGPLAN Symposium on Compiler Construction in Denver, Colorado. The next compiler construction conference took place in 1982 in Boston, Massachusetts. The compiler construction conferences then alternated with SIGPLAN Conferences on Language Issues until 1988, when the conference was renamed to PLDI. From 1982 until 2001, the conference acronym was SIGPLAN 'xx. Starting in 2002, the initialism became PLDI 'xx, and in 2006 it became PLDI xxxx.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Programming Language Design and Implementation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Programming Language Design and Implementation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Programming Language Design and Implementation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Programming Language Design and Implementation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Programming Language Design and Implementation

In research: Programming Language Design and Implementation appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Programming Language Design and Implementation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Programming Language Design and Implementation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Association for Computing Machinery conferences, Computer science conferences, Programming languages conferences, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Programming Language Design and Implementation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Programming Language Design and Implementation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Programming Language Design and Implementation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Programming Language Design and Implementation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Programming Language Design and Implementation in simple terms?

Why does Programming Language Design and Implementation matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Programming Language Design and Implementation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Programming Language Design and Implementation.