Group: program representation

Summary

A program is a static, linear representation of a multi-dimensional dynamic process. It defines a machine's initial state. Its meaning is the machine's execution. Underlying the representation is a model of computing, hopefully a simple foundation allowing variability without preempting user choices. A program is a visible, written representation which must be readable by both man and machine. Writing a program is solving a puzzle in representation. Many different programs should solve any one puzzle, otherwise programming becomes a difficult and expensive process. (cbb 5/80)

Subtopic: programs written for computer and human

Quote: a program has two audiences: the computer for which it is a mechanism, and the human reader for which it is an explanation [»soloE9_1986]

Subtopic: programming as mathematics

Quote: computing is a new field of mathematics; its central concepts are ill defined, like calculus when it was the Method of Fluxions [»straC8_1967]

Subtopic: clarity vs. efficiency

Quote: existing programming languages attempt to capture all of program development in one text; the program must balance clarity with efficiency [»scheWL9_1983]

Quote: semantic gap between basic instructions and machine code; either compile or interpret; complex codes not needed [»debaEH_1990]

Subtopic: specification vs. behavior

QuoteRef: wirtN3_1976 ;;3 "Languages to instruct or to construct machines?

Quote: a program controls a computer's behavior, or it is a complete specification for the desired, observable behavior of a computer [»hehnEC2_1984]

Quote: software is not fractal; high-level design is qualitatively different from low-level design; e.g., system architecture, abstract data type, and implementation [»guttJV_2002]

Subtopic: syntax vs. semantics

Quote: for programming languages semantics is far more important than syntax [»straC8_1967]

Subtopic: problem of errors

Quote: a program is a sequence of orders for performing a calculation; unlike a human, every contingency must be foreseen [»wilkMV_1951]

Subtopic: a program is mostly names

Quote: a program consists of a large number of variables, a few constants, and some punctuation to paste this all together [»wegbB_1971]

Subtopic: programmers remember semantics not syntax

Quote: programmers remember program by their semantics independently of the program's syntax [»shneB_1985]

Quote: Pascal programmers can easily remember a Pascal program; other programmers can recreate the program in their own language

Quote: the effectiveness of a particular programming technique depends overwhelmingly on the programmer's personality [»naurP4_1993]

Subtopic: usage cliches

Quote: usage cliches should be given first class syntactic status in programming languages, databases, and knowledge representation [»ridjD6_1983]

Subtopic: program by copying

Quote: programming is inhumanly hard; because text strings are a poor representation for programs [»edwaJ10_2005]

Quote: use copying to make programming more like a spreadsheet than a keypunch; representation = execution; free of the limits of paper

Note: a program is a frozen set of modules as identified by a call [»cbb_1990, OK]

Subtopic: difficult representations

QuoteRef: gonnGH7_1981 ;;33,34 copied difficult representations for programming languages.

Group: program representation

Topic: abstraction in programming language (47 items)
Topic: aspect-oriented programming (2 items)
Topic: bootstrapped systems (7 items)
Topic: builtin functions (6 items)
Topic: function library (50 items)
Topic: keyboard macros (12 items)
Topic: language extension via macros (23 items)
Topic: literate programming (16 items)
Topic: machine code and assembly language (49 items)
Topic: macro syntax definition (10 items)
Topic: macros (22 items)
Topic: predefined program units (6 items)
Topic: program web (8 items)
Topic: program construction by walk-through (26 items)
Topic: program source as truth (17 items)
Topic: programming as mathematics (27 items)
Topic: programming by sequential implementation (26 items)
Topic: programming language (29 items)
Topic: programming language design (53 items)
Topic: programming with a database of modules (94 items)
Topic: programming with data (16 items)
Topic: prototyping (18 items)
Topic: semantics by an abstract machine (38 items)
Topic: software components (11 items)
Topic: spreadsheet
(28 items)

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Topic: vivid representation of programs
(22 items)