I saw the following paragraph in a data modeling article:
Semantics relates to the study of references, specifically describing the real meaning between symbols or words. In computer science, semantics relates to the meaning of language constructs rather than their form.
There's one term that I'm not familiar with that is "language form". It looks like it comes from linguistics but I'm not sure.
Is there a standard definition on this one in computer science?
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$\begingroup$ (I read (language constructs)(form).) $\endgroup$greybeard– greybeard2025年03月04日 12:21:56 +00:00Commented Mar 4 at 12:21
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1$\begingroup$ I don't think it's a specifically linguistic term, I would have understood it like in arts, in poetry or in architecture, like in the "form follows function" design principle $\endgroup$Bergi– Bergi2025年03月04日 12:50:38 +00:00Commented Mar 4 at 12:50
1 Answer 1
Form is an alternative (and uncommon) word for syntax , used in particular when contrasting form with meaning (semantics).
An example:
Irons (1961) discussed "A Syntax Directed Compiler for ALGOL 60" that was to be "a compiling system which essentially separates the functions of defining the language and translating it into another." His paper used the syntax of ALGOL 60 and extended it to allow specification of meaning (in terms of the target language) as well as of form.
Thus, remarkably, the same important ideas emerged independently for the automatic translation of both natural and artificial languages:
- Separating syntax and semantics.
- Using a generative grammar to specify the set of all and only legal sentences (programs).
- Analyzing the syntax of the sentence (program) and then using the analysis to drive the translation (compilation).
(from: Formal languages: Origins and Directions, by S.A. Greibach, p.21)