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From: Seima Rao <seimarao@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Subject: Formally Defining a Programming Language
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:15:53 +0530
Organization: Compilers Central
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Hi,

n designing my own Programming Language and given the existence
of a lot of programming languages and an infinity of "knowhows" that
is the Internet, I resorted to adhoc adaptation methods that worked
incredibly well!

However, now, I want to formalize the definition of my programming
language. I find that the Backus Naur Form is a notation but reaching
to that form requires decisions such as the following illustration
would suggest:

         Illustration of Correct C++
         -----------------------------------

             function_declaration:

                 function_specifier return_type
                     fct_declarator '(' param_decl ')
                         cv_qualifier exception_specification ';'
                 ;

     In this illustration, I am inclined to ask:

     i) What is it that contributes to deciding that
         'inline' should be a separate "specifier"
        in the grammar?

    ii) How did the designers come up with
        something called a "specifier"?

    iii) What is a "specifier" in a non-C/C++ context
          by the way?

Therefore, I suspect that there is a Formal Study of Programming
Languages that occurs in Selected Schools.

Can readers of this forum help direct to relevant materials wrt
Formalism that I can study to learn about Formalisms that will help in
deciding about my Programming Language?

Sincerely,
Seima Rao.