MIS 4395.
A
Structured Programming
Language
Ahmed Imran Kabir
Week 1, Introductory Class
Outline of Topics
• Hardware/Software interface
– Layers of the Machine
– Kinds of Software
• Computer Languages
• Syntax, Semantics, Grammars
• What happens to your program?
– Compilation, Linking, Execution
– Program errors
• Compilation vs. Interpretation etc.
Software Categories
• System SW
– Programs written for computer systems
• Compilers, operating systems, …
• Application SW
– Programs written for computer users
• Word-processors, spreadsheets, & other
application packages
A Layered View of the Computer
Application Programs
Word-Processors, Spreadsheets,
Database Software, IDEs,
etc…
System Software
Compilers, Interpreters,Preprocessors,
etc.
Operating System, Device Drivers
Machine with all its hardware
Operating System (OS)
Provides several essential services:
– Loading & running application programs
– Allocating memory & processor time
– Providing input & output facilities
– Managing files of information
Programs
• Programs are written in programming languages
– PL = programming language
– Pieces of the same program can be written in
different PLs
• Languages closer to the machine can be more efficient
• As long as they agree on how to communicate
• A PL is
– A special purpose and limited language
– A set of rules and symbols used to construct a
computer program
– A language used to interact with the computer
Computer Languages
– Machine Language
• Uses binary code
• Machine-dependent
• Not portable
• Assembly Language
– Uses mnemonics
– Machine-dependent
– Not usually portable
• High-Level Language (HLL)
– Uses English-like language
– Machine independent
– Portable (but must be compiled for different platforms)
– Examples: Pascal, C, C++, Java, Fortran, . . .
Machine Language
• The representation of a computer program which is
actually read and understood by the computer.
– A program in machine code consists of a sequence of machine
instructions.
• Instructions:
– Machine instructions are in binary code
– Instructions specify operations and memory cells involved in the
operation
Example: Operation Address
0010 0000 0000 0100
0100 0000 0000 0101
0011 0000 0000 0110
Assembly Language
• A symbolic representation of the machine language of a
specific processor.
• Is converted to machine code by an assembler.
• Usually, each line of assembly code produces one
machine instruction (One-to-one correspondence).
• Programming in assembly language is slow and error-
prone but is more efficient in terms of hardware
performance.
• Mnemonic representation of the instructions and data
• Example:
Load Price
Add Tax
Store Cost
High-level language
• A programming language which use statements
consisting of English-like keywords such as "FOR",
"PRINT" or “IF“, ... etc.
• Each statement corresponds to several machine
language instructions (one-to-many correspondence).
• Much easier to program than in assembly language.
• Data are referenced using descriptive names
• Operations can be described using familiar symbols
• Example:
Cost := Price + Tax
Syntax & Semantics
• Syntax:
– The structure of strings in some language. A
language's syntax is described by a grammar.
– Examples:
• Binary number
<binary_number> = <bit> | <bit> <binary_number>
<bit> =0|1
• Identifier
<identifier> = <letter> {<letter> | <digit> }
<letter> =a|b|...|z
<digit =0|1|...|9
• Semantics:
– The meaning of the language
Syntax & Grammars
• Syntax descriptions for a PL are
themselves written in a formal language.
– E.g. Backus-Naur Form (BNF)
• The formal language is not a PL but it can
be implemented by a compiler to enforce
grammar restrictions.
• Some PLs look more like grammar
descriptions than like instructions.
Compilers & Programs
• Source program
– The form in which a computer program,
written in some formal programming
language, is written by the programmer.
– Can be compiled automatically into object
code or machine code or executed by an
interpreter.
– Pascal source programs have extension
‘.pas’
Compilers & Programs
• Object program
– Output from the compiler
– Equivalent machine language translation of the
source program
– Files usually have extension ‘.obj’
• Executable program
– Output from linker/loader
– Machine language program linked with necessary
libraries & other files
– Files usually have extension ‘.exe’
Running Programs
• Steps that the computer goes through to run a
program:
Memory
Machine language
program
(executable file)
Input Data Data entered CPU
during execution
Computed results
Program Output
Program Execution
• Steps taken by the CPU to run a program
(instructions are in machine language):
1. Fetch an instruction
2. Decode (interpret) the instruction
3. Retrieve data, if needed
4. Execute (perform) actual processing
5. Store the results, if needed
Program Errors
• Syntax Errors:
– Errors in grammar of the language
• Runtime error:
– When there are no syntax errors, but the program
can’t complete execution
• Divide by zero
• Invalid input data
• Logical errors:
– The program completes execution, but delivers
incorrect results
– Incorrect usage of parentheses
Brief History of Python
• Invented in the Netherlands, early 90s by Guido
van Rossum
• Named after Monty Python
• Open sourced from the beginning
• Considered a scripting language, but is much
more
• Scalable, object oriented and functional from the
beginning
• Used by Google from the beginning
• Increasingly popular
Python’s Benevolent Dictator For Life
“Python is an experiment in
how much freedom program-
mers need. Too much
freedom and nobody can read
another's code; too little and
expressive-ness is
endangered.”
- Guido van Rossum
Installing
• Python is pre-installed on most Unix systems,
including Linux and MAC OS X
• The pre-installed version may not be the most
recent one (2.6.2 and 3.1.1 as of Sept 09)
• Download from http://python.org/download/
• Python comes with a large library of standard
modules
• There are several options for an IDE
– IDLE – works well with Windows
– Emacs with python-mode or your favorite text editor
– Eclipse with Pydev (http://pydev.sourceforge.net/)
IDLE Development Environment
• IDLE is an Integrated DeveLopment Environ-ment
for Python, typically used on Windows
• Multi-window text editor with syntax highlighting,
auto-completion, smart indent and other.
• Python shell with syntax highlighting.
• Integrated debugger
with stepping, persis-
tent breakpoints,
and call stack visi-
bility
Python Scripts
• When you call a python program from the
command line the interpreter evaluates each
expression in the file
• Familiar mechanisms are used to provide
command line arguments and/or redirect input
and output
• Python also has mechanisms to allow a python
program to act both as a script and as a module
to be imported and used by another python
program
The Basics
A Code Sample (in IDLE)
x = 34 - 23
z = 3.45
print x
print z
print (x + z)
print (z*x)
Enough to Understand the Code
• Indentation matters to code meaning
– Block structure indicated by indentation
• First assignment to a variable creates it
– Variable types don’t need to be declared.
– Python figures out the variable types on its own.
• Assignment is = and comparison is ==
• For numbers + - * / % are as expected
– Special use of + for string concatenation and % for
string formatting (as in C’s printf)
• Logical operators are words (and, or,
not) not symbols
• The basic printing command is print
Naming Rules
• Names are case sensitive and cannot start with
a number. They can contain letters, numbers,
and underscores.
bob Bob _bob _2_bob_ bob_2 BoB
• There are some reserved words:
and, assert, break, class, continue,
def, del, elif, else, except, exec,
finally, for, from, global, if, import,
in, is, lambda, not, or, pass, print,
raise, return, try, while
Assignment
• You can assign to multiple names at the same
time
>>> x, y = 2, 3
>>> x
2
>>> y
3
This makes it easy to swap values
>>> x, y = y, x
• Assignments can be chained
>>> a = b = x = 2
Accessing Non-Existent Name
Accessing a name before it’s been properly
created (by placing it on the left side of an
assignment), raises an error
>>> y
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<pyshell#16>", line 1, in -toplevel-
y
NameError: name ‘y' is not defined
>>> y = 3
>>> y
3
