| Title: | Programming Language Design |
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| Long Title: | Programming Language Design |
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| Field of Study: |
Computer Software
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| Valid From: |
Semester 1 - 2017/18 ( September 2017 ) |
| Next Review Date: |
March 2022 |
| Module Coordinator: |
Sean McSweeney |
| Module Author: |
Francisco Ortin |
| Module Description: |
Programming languages are an important tool in software development. The knowledge and understanding of their implementation is valuable to design, develop and maintain software systems. Knowing the language features and their implementation allows the software engineer to: evaluate the performance, efficiency, robustness, reliability and security of applications and; choose the most appropriate language to implement an application. In this module, the student will design and implement a language processor using different architectural and design patterns. As part of the module the student will complete a practical software development project that combines areas in software engineering such as formal languages, grammars, automata, software architecture and design, programming, operating systems, computer structure and model-driven development. |
| Learning Outcomes |
| On successful completion of this module the learner will be able to: |
| LO1 |
Design the main elements of a programming language assigning responsibilities to the different elements of its architecture. |
| LO2 |
Select regular expressions and context-free grammars to implement lexers and parsers. |
| LO3 |
Design abstract syntax trees with design patterns, considering all the quality principles of software engineering. |
| LO4 |
Evaluate the foundations of language semantics and type systems. |
| LO5 |
Develop and optimise code from type-annotated abstract syntax trees. |
| Pre-requisite learning |
Module Recommendations
This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is strongly recommended before enrolment in this module. You may enrol in this module if you have not acquired the recommended learning but you will have considerable difficulty in passing (i.e. achieving the learning outcomes of) the module. While the prior learning is expressed as named MTU module(s) it also allows for learning (in another module or modules) which is equivalent to the learning specified in the named module(s).
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Incompatible Modules
These are modules which have learning outcomes that are too similar to the learning outcomes of this module. You may not earn additional credit for the same learning and therefore you may not enrol in this module if you have successfully completed any modules in the incompatible list. |
| No incompatible modules listed |
Co-requisite Modules
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| No Co-requisite modules listed |
Requirements
This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is mandatory before enrolment in this module is allowed. You may not enrol on this module if you have not acquired the learning specified in this section.
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| No requirements listed |
Module Content & Assessment
| Indicative Content |
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Programming language design
Language, processor, translator, compiler and interpreter. Architecture of language translators. Phases of a compiler. Language Semantics. Front-end and back-end. Analysis and synthesis.
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Lexical analysis
Objectives. Concepts. Lexical patterns. Implementation of scanners/lexers. Tools.
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Syntax analysis
Objectives. Context-free grammars. Derivations and parse trees. Ambiguous grammars. Parsing strategies. Parser generators. Abstract syntax trees.
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Semantic analysis
Language semantics. Objectives. Attribute grammars. Evaluation of attribute grammars. Identification phase (symbol resolution). Type systems and type checking.
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Intermediate programming languages and representations
High, medium and low-level intermediate representations. Virtual machines.
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Code generation
Introduction. Runtime environments. Memory management. Code generation techniques. Code generation of data structures. Control statements.
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| Assessment Breakdown | % |
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| Course Work | 100.00% |
| Course Work |
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| Assessment Type |
Assessment Description |
Outcome addressed |
% of total |
Assessment Date |
| Project |
Design and implement the analysis phases of a given imperative programming language. |
1,2,3 |
50.0 |
Week 6 |
| Project |
Design and implement the synthesis phases, so that the compiler generates code for a given virtual machine. |
1,4,5 |
50.0 |
Sem End |
| No End of Module Formal Examination |
| Reassessment Requirement |
Coursework Only
This module is reassessed solely on the basis of re-submitted coursework. There is no repeat written examination.
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The institute reserves the right to alter the nature and timings of assessment
Module Workload
| Workload: Full Time |
| Workload Type |
Workload Description |
Hours |
Frequency |
Average Weekly Learner Workload |
| Lecture |
Lecture delivering theory underpinning learning outcomes. |
2.0 |
Every Week |
2.00 |
| Directed Learning |
Lab supporting learning outcomes. |
2.0 |
Every Week |
2.00 |
| Independent Learning |
Independent & directed learning |
3.0 |
Every Week |
3.00 |
| Total Hours |
7.00 |
| Total Weekly Learner Workload |
7.00 |
| Total Weekly Contact Hours |
2.00 |
| Workload: Part Time |
| Workload Type |
Workload Description |
Hours |
Frequency |
Average Weekly Learner Workload |
| Lecture |
Lecture delivering theory underpinning learning outcomes. |
2.0 |
Every Week |
2.00 |
| Lab |
Lab supporting learning outcomes. |
2.0 |
Every Week |
2.00 |
| Independent Learning |
Independent & directed learning |
3.0 |
Every Week |
3.00 |
| Total Hours |
7.00 |
| Total Weekly Learner Workload |
7.00 |
| Total Weekly Contact Hours |
4.00 |
Module Resources
| Recommended Book Resources |
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- Andrew W. Appel 2002, Modern compiler implementation in Java, 2nd Ed., Cambridge University Press [ISBN: 9780521820608]
- David A. Watt 2000, Programming Language Processors in Java: Compilers and Interpreters, 1st Ed., Prentice Hall [ISBN: 9780130257864]
- Alfred V. Aho , Monica S. Lam 2006, Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools, 2 Ed., Addison Wesley [ISBN: 978-032148681]
| | Supplementary Book Resources |
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- Keith Cooper, Linda Torczon 2011, Engineering a Compiler, 2 Ed., Morgan Kaufman [ISBN: 978-012088478]
- Kenneth Louden 1997, Compiler Construction: Principles and Practice, International Edition Ed., Course Technology [ISBN: 9780534939724]
| | Recommended Article/Paper Resources |
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- Francisco Ortin, Daniel Zapico, Juan M. Cueva 2007, Design Patterns for Teaching Type Checking in a Compiler Construction Course, IEEE Transactions on Education, 50(3), 273
- William W. Waite 2006, The compiler course in today's curriculum: three strategies, SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2006
| | Supplementary Article/Paper Resources |
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- Francisco Ortin, Daniel Zapico, Jose Quiroga, and Miguel Garcia 2014, Automatic Generation of Object-Oriented Type Checkers, Lecture Notes on Software Engineering, vol. 2, no. 4
- Nguyen Viet Cuong 2015, PhD thesis: Model Transformation Approach to Automated Model Driven Development, Department of Computer Science, Czech Technical University in Prague
| | Other Resources |
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- Website: Gerwin Klein, Steve Rowe, Régis Décamps 2017, JFlex lexical analyzer generator
- Website: Tomas Hurka 2017, BYaccJ parser generator, Berkeley University
- Website: Terence Parr 2017, ANTLR parser generator for reading,
processing, executing, or translating
structured text or binary files
, University of San Francisco
- Website: Nate Nystrom, Steve Chong, Andrew Myers 2017, Polyglot, an open compiler front-end
framework for building Java language
extensions
, Cornell University
- Website: Xtend 2017, Xtend, Java 10 today, Eclipse Foundation, Inc.
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Module Delivered in
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