Why Study Programming Languages?
This is a course on the principles of programming languages. Why study these principles? Because they are fundamental to the design, implementation, and application of programming languages. Programming language design is often regarded as largely, or even entirely, a matter of opinion, with few, if any, organizing principles, and no generally accepted facts. Dozens of languages are in everyday use in research laboratories and in industry, each with its adherents and detractors. The relative merits of languages are debated endlessly, but always, it seems, with an inconclusive outcome. Some would even suggest that all languages are equivalent, the only difference being a matter of personal taste. Yet it is obvious that programming languages do matter! Yet can we really say that Java is “better” (or “worse”) than C++? Is Scheme “better” than Lisp? Is ML “better” than either of them? Can we hope to give substance to any of these questions? Or should we simply reserve them for late
