1.9 Thematic Takeaways

• This course of study is about concepts of programming languages.

• There is a universal lexicon for discussing the concepts of languages and for, more generally, engaging in this course of study, including the terms binding, side effect, and first-class entity.

• Programming languages differ in their design and implementation options for supporting a variety of concepts from a host of programming styles, including imperative, functional, object-oriented, and logic/declarative programming.

• The support for multiple styles of programming in a single language provides programmers with a richer palette in that language for expressing ideas about computation.

• Programming languages and the various styles of programming used therein are conduits into computation (Figure 1.3).

• Within the context of their support for a variety of programming styles, all languages involve a core set of universal concepts that are operationalized through an interpreter and provide a basis for (comparative) evaluation (Figure 1.2).

• The diversity of design and implementation options across programming languages provides fertile ground for comparative language analysis.

• A variety of factors influence the design and development of programming languages, including (historically) computer architecture, abilities of programmers, and development methodologies.

• The evolution of programming languages bifurcated into languages involving primarily static binding and those involving primarily dynamic bindings (Figure 1.4).

See also the recurrent themes in Section 1.6.