BKPRGLNG.RVW   960703
 
"Programming Languages: Concepts and Constructs", Ravi Sethi, 1996,
0-201-59065-4, U$55.90
%A   Ravi Sethi
%C   1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA   01867-9984
%D   1996
%G   0-201-59065-4
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
%O   U$55.90 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 bkexpress@aw.com
%P   640
%T   "Programming Languages: Concepts and Constructs"
 
Intended as a textbook for a course on the idea of, and behind, high-level
programming languages, this work first looks at the role of such languages, and
the means of describing them.  The author then looks at the three major
"paradigms" of programming: imperative, object-oriented, and functional.  Logic
and concurrent programming are given some space, followed by semantic methods,
lambda calculus and a brief overview of some current languages.
 
The style of the book is highly academic.  This is not necessarily a failing in
a textbook, but it is coupled with singularly awkward explanations.  Object-
orientation seems to be no more than a particularly modular form of a
procedural language while functional programming appears only to be especially
suited to recursion.  An introduction to the concepts is there, but full
understanding requires research into the (admittedly excellent) bibliography.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996   BKPRGLNG.RVW   960703

======================
roberts@decus.ca           rslade@vcn.bc.ca           rslade@vanisl.decus.ca
Ah! When I were lad, we used to 'ave t'wait 40 milliseconds on noisy channel
 for a network link to come oop--and login both ends! - per Linda Richards
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER)