Toward complete programming language descriptions that are both formal and understandable

Abstract

We describe an approach to, and a case study of, the construction of complete programming language descriptions that are at the same time formal and readily understandable. Such a description includes integrated specifications for abstract and textual syntax, context conditions (static semantics) and dynamic semantics. The imetalanguage is a powerful program design language based on a real general‐purpose programming language. The specifications are presented not as a monolithic block but as an intellectually manageable sequence of sections and subsections with a carefully designed format and cross‐referencing scheme. The approach could reduce the need to choose between formality and understandability in a language reference manual.