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On the application of a popular notation to semantics

On the application of a popular notation to semantics On the Application of a Popular Notation to Semantics Richard J. Botting California State University, San Bernardino, 7700 State University Parkway, San Bernardino CA 92407, USA rbotting@csusb, edu This note follows David Schmidt's position paper "On the Need for a Popular Formal Semantics" [/]. I suggest that we can use of the popular Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the Object Constraint Language(OCL) to express the semantics of languages in Language Reference Manuals(LRMs). I, personally, prefer to use mathematical semantics [.2]. However, a "multilevel approach" works better with practitioners [_3]. For example with syntax we have: Research: Grammar Theory -- mathematical, rigorous, good for research papers, but unusable Paradigm: BNF -- Designed to be used and defined in terms of Grammar Theory LRMs: EBNF -- Extends BNF with convenient abbreviations and terms for particular language. For semantics we might aim for: Research: Mathematical theories of objects and their specifications Paradigm: UML+OCL LRMs: UML+OCL with convenient tags and stereotypes While working on a department project [acknowledxment] I found that 1. The UML class diagrams express abstract syntax well. 2. OCL constraints can specify static semantics. 3. Adding operations and writing OCL specifications can give operational semantics. 4. Inheritance simplifies the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png ACM SIGPLAN Notices Association for Computing Machinery

On the application of a popular notation to semantics

ACM SIGPLAN Notices , Volume 34 (6) – Jun 1, 1999

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References (2)

Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by ACM Inc.
ISSN
0362-1340
DOI
10.1145/606666.606680
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

On the Application of a Popular Notation to Semantics Richard J. Botting California State University, San Bernardino, 7700 State University Parkway, San Bernardino CA 92407, USA rbotting@csusb, edu This note follows David Schmidt's position paper "On the Need for a Popular Formal Semantics" [/]. I suggest that we can use of the popular Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the Object Constraint Language(OCL) to express the semantics of languages in Language Reference Manuals(LRMs). I, personally, prefer to use mathematical semantics [.2]. However, a "multilevel approach" works better with practitioners [_3]. For example with syntax we have: Research: Grammar Theory -- mathematical, rigorous, good for research papers, but unusable Paradigm: BNF -- Designed to be used and defined in terms of Grammar Theory LRMs: EBNF -- Extends BNF with convenient abbreviations and terms for particular language. For semantics we might aim for: Research: Mathematical theories of objects and their specifications Paradigm: UML+OCL LRMs: UML+OCL with convenient tags and stereotypes While working on a department project [acknowledxment] I found that 1. The UML class diagrams express abstract syntax well. 2. OCL constraints can specify static semantics. 3. Adding operations and writing OCL specifications can give operational semantics. 4. Inheritance simplifies the

Journal

ACM SIGPLAN NoticesAssociation for Computing Machinery

Published: Jun 1, 1999

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