Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming
This innovative text presents computer programming as a unified
discipline in a way that is both practical and scientifically sound. The
book focuses on techniques of lasting value and explains them precisely
in terms of a simple abstract machine. The book presents all major
programming paradigms in a uniform framework that shows their deep
relationships and how and where to use them together. After an
introduction to programming concepts, the book presents both well-known
and lesser-known computation models ("programming paradigms"). Each
model has its own set of techniques and each is included on the basis of
its usefulness in practice. The general models include declarative
programming, declarative concurrency, message-passing concurrency,
explicit state, object-oriented programming, shared-state concurrency,
and relational programming. Specialized models include graphical user
interface programming, distributed programming, and constraint
programming. Each model is based on its kernel language -- a simple core
language that consists of a small number of programmer- significant
elements. The kernel languages are introduced progressively, adding
concepts one by one, thus showing the deep relationships between
different models. The kernel languages are defined precisely in terms of
a simple abstract machine. Because a wide variety of languages and
programming paradigms can be modeled by a small set of closely related
kernel languages, this approach allows programmer and student to grasp
the underlying unity of programming. The book has many program fragments
and exercises, all of which can be run on the Mozart Programming
System, an Open Source software package that features an interactive
incremental development environment
