Concepts of programming languages

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1. spapas82Sep 2022
   A classic reading on the field of programming language theory is the Sebesta one: Concepts of Programming Languages.
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2. BostonianFeb 2022
   There are courses on programming languages in general for CS majors, and textbooks for those courses can be found by searching "programming languages" on Amazon, for example

   Concepts of Programming Languages (11th Edition) by Robert W. Sebesta

   Programming Language Pragmatics by Scott, Michael L.

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3. leonardoeloyJun 2020
   Concepts of Programming Languages by Sebesta. This helped me understand what abstractions are all about.
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4. klt0825Dec 2011
   We used Concepts of Programming Languages (http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Concepts-of-...) in my undergraduate Comparative Languages course which was very good and seems to cover much of the same material as the course.

   I sadly lost the book when I moved but I remember loving both the book and the course and learning a ton thanks to seeing a number of different language types side by side. I have fond memories of trying to wrap my mind around Prolog the first time I saw it.

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5. faresahmedSep 2026
   I had a similar course, "Concepts of Programming Languages". The accompanying textbook was by Robert Sebest under the same name.
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6. joatmon-snooOct 2016
   On a CS-theory level, there's a fair amount of stuff he can learn in terms of just "thinking", but it won't come very close to being able to putz around with code and watch it fail.

   Suggestions for absolutely no computers:

   * CLRS, the classic. (I just skimmed the intro, though, and if he has no background in uni-level maths, it might be a little tough to digest.)

   * (maybe) the Head First series (as someone else suggested). I'm wary of suggesting it not just because I have no experience with the books (I only even mention it because I know they're ubiquitous), but also because bad habits are formed early, and this could do that.

   * Patterson and Hennessy - Computer Organization and Design (5d.)

   * Sebesta - Concepts of Programming Languages (11d.) (but only after finishing some of CLRS, and even then I don't know how appropriate this is)

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   What kind of experience did he have with computers before he went in?

   Depending, you may be able to make recommendations about stuff relevant to what he's used.

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   Can you get him something like a TI-84? Because even that will at least allow him to go in and write TI-BASIC.

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