ticocong的专栏

In giving a formal semantics to a programming language we are concerned with building a mathematical model. Its purpose is to serve as a basis for understanding and reasoning about how programs behave. Not only is a mathematical model useful for various kinds of analysis and verification, but also, at a more fundamental level, because simply the activity of trying to define the meaning of program constructions precisely can reveal all kinds of subtleties of which it is important to be aware. This book introduces the mathematics, techniques and concepts on which formal semantics rests.