1965/02/01 by P. J. Landin · 11 citations
Computer Science · #Logic, programming, and type systems #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #semigroups and automata theory
paper · pdf · doi:10.1145/363744.363749
openalex publication_date 1965/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
This paper describes how some of the semantics of ALGOL 60 can be formalized by establishing a correspondence between expressions of ALGOL 60 and expressions in a modified form of Church's n-notation. First a model for computer languages and computer behavior is described, based on the notions of functional application and functional abstraction, but also having analogues for imperative language features. Then |his model is used as an "abstract object language" into which ALGOL 60 is mapped. Many of ALGOL 60's features emerge as particular arrangements of a small number of structural rules, suggesting new classifications and generalizations.