The outer and inner syntax of a programming language
Open Access
- 1 January 1968
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Computer Journal
- Vol. 11 (3) , 260-263
- https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/11.3.260
Abstract
It is pointed out that the syntax of a higher level programming language such as ALGOL may be divided into two parts, to which the names outer and inner syntax are given. The outer syntax is concerned with the organisation of the flow of control, and is programmer-oriented, while the inner syntax is concerned with performing operations on data held in the memory of the computer, and is therefore data-oriented. It is shown how in the case of ALGOL it is possible to make a clean separation of the inner and outer syntax, and attention is drawn to certain practical advantages of regarding programming languages in this light.Keywords
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