Author(s): Daniel P. Friedman; Mitchell Wand

This book provides students with a deep, working understanding of the essential concepts of
programming languages. Most of these essentials relate to the semantics, or meaning, of program
elements, and the text uses interpreters (short programs that directly analyze an abstract
representation of the program text) to express the semantics of many essential language elements
in a way that is both clear and executable. The approach is both analytical and hands-on. The
book provides views of programming languages using widely varying levels of abstraction,
maintaining a clear connection between the high-level and low-level views. Exercises are a
vital part of the text and are scattered throughout; the text explains the key concepts, and
the exercises explore alternative designs and other issues. The complete Scheme code for all
the interpreters and analyzers in the book can be found online through The MIT Press Web site.

For this new edition, each chapter has been revised and many new exercises have been added.
Significant additions have been made to the text, including completely new chapters on modules
and continuation-passing style. "Essentials of Programming Languages" can be used for both
graduate and undergraduate courses, and for continuing education courses for programmers.

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