Semantics (computer science)
| Semantics | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||
|
Semantics of programming languages | ||||||||
|
||||||||
| Part of a series on |
| Formal languages |
|---|
In programming language theory, semantics is the rigorous mathematical study of the meaning of programming languages. Semantics assigns computational meaning to valid strings in a programming language syntax. It is closely related to, and often crosses over with, the semantics of mathematical proofs.
Semantics describes the processes a computer follows when executing a program in that specific language. This can be done by describing the relationship between the input and output of a program, or giving an explanation of how the program will be executed on a certain platform, thereby creating a model of computation.