PAL (programming language)
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RPAL (an acronym for Right-reference Pedagogic Algorithmic Language) is a functional programming language related to the ML programming language. It is a subset of PAL, a language invented by Arthur Evans, Jr. and John Wozencraft in the early 1970s at MIT for teaching programming language construction.[1][2]
This language is used almost exclusively by Dr. Manuel Bermúdez of the Computer Science department at the University of Florida as a means of teaching the construction of programming languages and encouraging students to shift paradigms from the imperative model to the functional model. Programs in this language can only be made up of a single expression, because the language does not offer a sequencing operator. The other notable operator that the language is missing is an assignment operator. The only way to change a variable is to create a new binding for it. This binding is permanent, and cannot be changed. The same name, however, may be rebound in a nested scope.
References
- ^ Arthur Evans, Jr., PAL: Pedagogic Algorithmic Language: A Reference Manual and Primer. Unpublished report, Department of Electrical Engineering, MIT, February 1970.
- ^ John M. Wozencraft and Arthur Evans, Jr. Notes on Programming Linguistics. Unpublished report, Department of Electrical Engineering, MIT. February, 1971.
External links
PAL
- Computer History Museum, Software Preservation Group page on PAL, retrieved 2010-09-06.
Language specification
The following links are the specification of the language as presented by Dr. Bermúdez:
- Introduction
- Lexical Grammar
- Parsing Grammar (String to Tree Transduction Grammar)
- Subtree Transformational Grammar