J. C. Reynolds
ABSTRACT
THE COGENT (COmpiler and GENeralized Translator) programming system is a compiler whose input language is designed to describe symbolic or linguistic manipulation algorithms. Although the system is intended primarily for use as a compiler compiler, it is also applicable to such problem areas as algebraic manipulation, mechanical theorem-proving, and heuristic programming.
In designing the system the major objective has been to unify the concept of syntax-directed compilation1 with the more general but primitive concept of recursive list-processing2. This objective is achieved by using the syntax of a language to define a mapping between strings of the language and list structures. Given such a mapping, linguistic processes become equivalent to list processes, and a list-processing language becomes a concise vehicle for describing such processes.
Thus a program written in the COGENT language is a list-processing program in which the list structures normally represent phrases of one or more object languages (i.e., the input and output languages to be processed by the program), in a representation determined by the syntax of these languages. Correspondingly, the COGENT language itself contains two major constructions: productions, which define the object language syntax, and generator definitions, which define list-processing subroutines called generators.
- 1.Irons, E. T., "A Syntax Directed Compiler for ALGOL 60," Comm. ACM, p. 51; 4/1961. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- 2.McCarthy, J., "Recursive Functions of Symbolic Expressions and Their Computation by Machine, Part I," Comm. ACM, p. 184; 3/1960. McCarthy, J., et al., "LISP 1.5 Programmer's Manual," MIT Press; 1962. Google ScholarDigital Library
- 3.Backus, J. W., "The Syntax and Semantics of the Proposed International Algebraic Language of the Zurich ACM-GAMM Conference," Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Processing, UNESCO, Paris, p. 125; June, 1959.Google Scholar
- 4.Brooker, R. A., and Morris, D., "A General Translation Program for Phrase Structure Languages," J. ACM, p. 1; 9/1962. Google ScholarDigital Library
- 5.Reynolds, J. C., COGENT Programming Manual, ANL-7022, Argonne National Laboratory; Mar., 1965.Google Scholar
- 6.Ross, D. T., "A Generalized Technique for Symbol Manipulation and Numerical Calculation," Comm. ACM, p. 147; 4/1961. Google ScholarDigital Library
- 7.Edwards, J., "LISP II Garbage Collector": unpublished.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Programming languages for non-numeric processing—2: An introduction to the COGENT programming system
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