Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder6.news.weretis.net!news.misty.com!news.iecc.com!.POSTED.news.iecc.com!nerds-end From: anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) Newsgroups: comp.compilers Subject: Re: What is the meaning of an expression? Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2022 18:20:48 GMT Organization: Institut fuer Computersprachen, Technische Universitaet Wien Lines: 19 Sender: news@iecc.com Approved: comp.compilers@iecc.com Message-ID: <22-01-053@comp.compilers> References: <22-01-052@comp.compilers> Injection-Info: gal.iecc.com; posting-host="news.iecc.com:2001:470:1f07:1126:0:676f:7373:6970"; logging-data="24108"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@iecc.com" Keywords: semantics Posted-Date: 14 Jan 2022 13:48:48 EST X-submission-address: compilers@iecc.com X-moderator-address: compilers-request@iecc.com X-FAQ-and-archives: http://compilers.iecc.com Xref: csiph.com comp.compilers:2829 Roger L Costello writes: >Do you always use the word "meaning" or do you sometimes use the word >"semantics"? Do the two words mean (no pun intended) the same thing to you, >from a compiler perspective? "Semantics" is more technical, and not completely synonymous with "meaning". When talking about the meaning of a piece of code, we tend to differentiate between syntax (what is described by a context-free grammar) and semantics (everything beyond that). Semantics is divided into static semantics (how to interpret the code at compile time), and run-time semantics (what happens at run-time). Whether you refer to everything, or just some parts of that when using "meaning" depends on the context (although I don't think I have seen it used for syntax only). - anton -- M. Anton Ertl anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/