CSE 505 Tentative Syllabus

Alan Borning
Fall 1997

Functional Programming (2-3 weeks)

• Issues addressed:
• first-class functions; lexical scoping
• programming without side-effects
• polymorphic type systems; type inference; static vs. dynamic typing
• module systems
• lazy evaluation
• continuations
• Languages studied:
• Scheme
• ML
• Haskell
• Course work:
• small programming assignments and homework in each language

Object-Oriented Programming (2-3 weeks)

• Issues addressed:
• ADTs; inheritance; subclass polymorphism & dynamic binding
• static type systems; subclassing vs. subtyping
• polymorphic type systems
• other issues:
• single vs. multiple dispatching
• classes vs. prototypes
• Languages studied:
• Smalltalk
• C++, Java
• Cecil, Dylan
• Course work:
• small programming assignments and homework in 2-3 languages

Logic and Constraint-Based Programming (1 week)

• Issues addressed:
• declarative programming
• Languages studied:
• Prolog, CLP(R), cc languages
• Kaleidoscope
• Course work:
• one simple programming assignment and homework

Formal Semantics (1 week)

• Issues addressed:
• operational semantics; natural semantics
• denotational semantics
• type deduction rules; soundness
• Languages studied:
• lambda calculus
• Course work:
• one simple homework assignment

History of Programming Languages (1-2 lectures)

• Algol-60 and its descendants (Simula, Pascal, Ada, etc)

Exams

• midterm and final

Course Project

• 10-15 page paper on a language issue of student's choosing. Optional implementation component. Topic negotiated with instructor.