Concepts of Programming Languages

What it covers

• Syntax, parsing, ASTs, and operational semantics
• Functions: closures, lexical vs. dynamic scoping, environments, higher-order functions
• State and mutation, type systems and type checking
• Objects: class-based vs. prototype-based inheritance, dynamic dispatch
• Lazy vs. eager evaluation, and an introduction to parallel/concurrent programming

Assessment

Mandatory pass/fail lab assignments on WebLab, plus a heavily-weighted final computer exam also on WebLab. The exam mixes multiple-choice/open theory questions with Scala programming tasks (extending interpreters, desugarers, type checkers) — proper functional style is expected, with var and imperative loops typically disallowed unless the question says otherwise.

Worth knowing

• Interpreters are built and extended in Scala across the quarter — falling behind on one version makes the next assignment substantially harder.
• The exam penalizes imperative-style Scala; write functionally even when an imperative shortcut is faster to think of.
• C and JavaScript are used only for contrast (manual memory management, prototype-based inheritance) — all graded implementation work is in Scala.