Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder6.news.weretis.net!news.misty.com!news.iecc.com!.POSTED.news.iecc.com!nerds-end
From: Jan Ziak <0xe2.0x9a.0x9b@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Subject: Re: What is the meaning of an expression?
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2022 15:45:10 -0800 (PST)
Organization: Compilers Central
Lines: 24
Sender: news@iecc.com
Approved: comp.compilers@iecc.com
Message-ID: <22-01-066@comp.compilers>
References: <AdgJPKhi/NiNfECvRNaA6+4Wq/M8OQ==> <22-01-052@comp.compilers> <22-01-060@comp.compilers>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Info: gal.iecc.com; posting-host="news.iecc.com:2001:470:1f07:1126:0:676f:7373:6970"; logging-data="97646"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@iecc.com"
Keywords: theory, comment
Posted-Date: 17 Jan 2022 22:18:33 EST
X-submission-address: compilers@iecc.com
X-moderator-address: compilers-request@iecc.com
X-FAQ-and-archives: http://compilers.iecc.com
In-Reply-To: <22-01-060@comp.compilers>
Xref: csiph.com comp.compilers:2839

On Sunday, January 16, 2022 at 6:27:58 PM UTC+1, Jan Ziak wrote:
> On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 6:40:24 PM UTC+1, Roger L Costello wrote:
> > For example, the meaning of this expression:
> >
> > 1 + 1
> >
> > is 2.
>
> The meaning of 1+1 is a transition between two states. ....
>
> -atom
> [We seem to be pretty deep in this tarpit now. -John]

@John It's not about a tarpit. If a person believes that the [only] meaning of
1+1 is 2 then it increases the probability that the person does not know about
modulo arithmetic: (1+1 mod 2) is 0. Thus, it is better to adopt the more
general viewpoint that the meaning of an expression is a transition between
two [machine] states. A next concern is the complexity of those states.

-atom
[Now we're even deeper in the tarpit.  Is the "meaning" a mathematical statement,
an instruction to a compiler to generate code computing the value of an expression,
something else?  I don't know, and it's pretty clear none of the rest of us do either.
-John]