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Denotational semantics
Article By:
Schmidt, David Computing and Information Science Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.
Last reviewed:2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB120318
Computer programs are complex, structured assemblies, as are buildings and television sets. However, programs are also linguistic assemblies, as are epic poems on the scale of Homer's Iliad or Odyssey. Even more so than with a building, television, or epic poem, a program must match its “blueprint” or specification exactly. For example, flight-control software or medical software must perform exactly as described; otherwise, someone might be harmed. Because of its linguistic aspect, a program's specification often looks like a mathematical formula, and a program's semantics (meaning) must be mathematical in nature to provably match the specification.
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