72940 - Computational Models And Languages M

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course unit, conceived according to a multi-paradigm and multi-language constructive approach, the student has a deep knowledge on the fundamental concepts of programming languages and related computational models, knows the foundations of computability, knows and is able to apply the basic interpreter and compiler techniques, and possesses the basic concepts of functional programming and is able to apply such concepts in typical practical situations.

More precisely, the student will know the main formal methods for language definition in terms of syntax and semantics, for both programming languages and specification languages, and will be able to apply the main techniques for language evaluation and recognition for interpreters and compilers, including the use of the most common tools. Students will also be able to define reasonably simple languages understanding their properties, implementing the corresponding interpreters, and evaluating the pros and cons of different choices/computational paradigms in application design.

Course contents

The course aims to provide a rational view over the fundamental concepts of programming languages, relating them to the different computational models and to the problem of language translation and recognition: solid foundations are coupled to a strong experimental approach.

Contents:

• Computability and Turing machine (5hrs)
• Formal description of programming languages: grammars and Chomsky classification. Relationship between grammars and language interpreters/translators: lexical analysis, top-down and bottom-up techniques for the syntactical analysis of regular languages and context-free languages. Overview on methods for the formal description of the semantic aspects of a language. (18hrs)
• Structure and organisation of interpreters/compilers, and their run-time support: examples in Java. Parser generator tools. (14hrs)
• Introduction to Model-Driven approaches: the Xtext case. (3 hrs)
• Iterative vs. recursive computational models, tail recursion optimisation, basic concepts of functional programming, closures, models for function evaluation, intro to the basics of Lambda calculus (9hrs)
• Javascript as an example of (dynamic) functional language with a prototype-based object model (6hrs)
• Scala and Kotlin as notable examples of blended programming languages on the Java platform. (9hrs)

Readings/Bibliography

Please refer either to the course page at the site indicted below, or to the slides on the VirtuaLe site.

Teaching methods

The course adopts a constructive approach, where lectures (with slide projection) and foundational aspects are interleaved with practical examples, exercises, case studies - both during the lectures, in the form of live lab, and as proposal for autonomous exercises at home, according to the "individual continuous lab" formula.

Lectures and practical aspects are then intentionally brought forward in parallel, whenever possible for the specific subject. In addition to the above-mentioned individual lab, actual lab sessions are also organised when appropriate.

Due to the use of computer labs, this course requires the mandatory previous participation to both 1 & 2 modules about safety at work, as per the Italian law. Such modules can be attended on-line at [https://elearning-sicurezza.unibo.it/].

Assessment methods

The exams consists of an oral discussion, preceded by a 1-hr time slot in which the student is invited to prepare a written set of examples about several topics covered in the course: these examples and topics will be the base for the subsequent oral discussion. Please note, however, that the discussion is not limited to the topics proposed by the student: instead, students are expected to be ready to react to the teacher's observations, stimuli, etc. 

Coherently with the master level, the evaluation criteria aim to verify the full knowledge and competence of the student. Positive elements include the ability to connect topics, spontaneously highlight the key elements, illustrate examples of a given topics using different languages and discussion their differences, connecting theoretical and practical aspects, etc. Conversely, negative evaluation elements include a study approach limited to the mere reproduction of lectures/slides, possibly reproducing the very same examples of the slides, and more generally adopting a sectorial approach, where topics are not connected to each other inside a personal narration.

As stated above, the oral discussion is by no way limited to the initial set of examples and topics proposed by the student: rather, students are requested to be able to solve also written exercises, possibly invent other examples on the fly, and more generally to be able to promptly respond to any question, observation, etc.

If the student also selected the extra Work Project, a single comprehensive discussion can be settled. However, it is always possible to take the two exams separately.

Teaching tools

Slides and any other useful material is available on Unibo repository, VirtuaLe. 

A comprehensive list of possible books, manuals, etc. is available on the course web site, which also lists plenty of online tools for practical experiments.

 

Links to further information

http://enricodenti.disi.unibo.it/

Office hours

See the website of Enrico Denti