Programming Language Design

Last updated Apr 24, 2023 Edit Source

There are many pieces which form a programming language.

• Type system: static or dynamic
• Automatic memory management
• Data types
• Expressions: code which produces a value
• Statements: code which produces an effect. It does not evaluate to some value but changes the world in some way – modify state, reading/producing input/output.
• Variables
• Control Flow
• Functions
  • Closures: inner functions which “hold on” to references to any surrounding variables that it uses even after the outer function has returned
• Classes
  • Deciding between OOP or not. Deciding to use classes or prototyping.
• Standard library