Donald Knuth's influence in computer science ranges from the mathematical analysis of algorithms to the creation of the T£X and METRFONT systems for desktop publishing. His award-winning textbooks have become classics that are often credited for shaping the field; his scientific papers are widely referenced and stand as milestones of development over a wide range of topics. The present volume, which is the fifth in a series of his collected works, deals with the languages that millions of programmers use daily to communicate with computers.

Two dozen of Knuths classic papers on the subject are collected in this volume, brought up to date with supplementary material, and augmented by a previously unpublished essay on language design. Of particular interest are his fascinating and definitive survey of the twenty languages for programming that preceded FORTRAN I, along with three of his fundamental papers that each launched significant subfields of computer science: (i) The theories of LL(k) and LR(k) parsing; (2) attribute grammars to define the meaning of languages; (3) empirical studies of user programs and profile-based optimization. Every chapter is self-contained and accessible to computer programmers with varied backgrounds. Readers will be able to participate vicariously in the creation of concepts that have now become thoroughly integrated into modern software systems.

Contents

• The early development of programming langages
• Backus normal form versus Backus naur form
• Teaching ALGOL 60
• ALGOL 60 Confidential
• SMALGOL-61
• Man or boy ?
• ...