Program Overview

Course Specification

The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web.

CSC8460 Advanced Programming Languages

Staffing

Course Coordinator: Matthew Mengel

Requisites

• Pre-requisite: CSC5020

Overview

Today, the number of available programming languages is large and continues to increase, creating a challenge in choosing the right tool for a task. However, programming languages are more alike than they are different. To master new languages with minimum time and effort, professional developers need to know the basic structures, semantics, and elements that are common to all programming languages. They also need to understand the design principles of a small number of paradigms that effectively group languages. This advanced course forms an endpoint in the formal investigation into programming and provides the skills for practitioners to continue to grow their expertise over a large range of present and future languages.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Explain complex programming syntax and structure using formal language tools, reflecting deep understanding of programming language syntax and semantics.
2. Compare and contrast a wide range of properties of programming languages, with a particular focus on imperative language features.
3. Evaluate the difference between the major programming language paradigms and contextually select the paradigm best suited to solve a particular problem.

Topics

1. | Language Evolution and Evaluation | 5.00
2. | Formal Description of Languages; Parsing | 15.00
3. | Common elements of imperative languages (variables, expressions, sub-programs etc) | 20.00
4. | Interpretation and compilation; typing systems | 5.00
5. | Prototype-based languages versus class-based languages | 5.00
6. | Functional Programming | 40.00
7. | Logical and other programming paradigms | 10.00

Text and Materials Required

• Sebesta, Robert W 2022, Concepts of Programming Languages, Global Edition, 12th edn, Pearson Higher Ed.

Student Workload Expectations

To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week, including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks.

Assessment Details

Approach | Type | Description | Group | Assessment | Weighting (%) | Course Learning Outcomes
---|---|---|---|---|---|---
Assignments | Written | Problem Solving 1 | No | 10 | 1
Assignments | Written | Problem Solving 2 | No | 20 | 2
Assignments | Written | Problem Solving 3 | No | 20 | 3
Assignments | Written | Report | No | 50 | 1,2,3

Semester Details

• Semester: 2, 2023
• Location: Toowoomba On-campus
• Units: 1
• School or Department: School of Mathematics, Physics & Computing
• Grading basis: Graded
• Course fee schedule: Not specified