The Howdy Glossary

Scheme-Definition Language is a powerful tool used to describe the formal semantics of other programming languages in an abstract and executable manner. It offers capabilities for creating definitions that can be verified for consistency, compared with other languages, and utilized to generate program analyzers or synthesis tools. This makes it highly valuable in language design, aiding in the development of new programming languages or refining existing ones while ensuring semantic correctness.

These languages are the result of collaborative efforts within academic and research communities; thus, they do not have a single specific creator. Scheme-Definition Languages allow users to create formal definitions that represent concrete semantics abstractly and executably. They provide robust tools for checking consistency, comparing different languages or versions, and generating related tools based on these formal definitions. The primary goal is to support language design through structured frameworks that help maintain semantic correctness across various implementations.

Despite competition from other specification languages such as Alloy, TLA+, Maude, interactive theorem proving tools like Coq and Isabelle, as well as domain-specific environments like K-framework, Scheme-Definition Languages stand out due to their dedicated focus on describing programming language semantics explicitly. They enable comprehensive analysis through specialized features tailored for consistency checks and program analyzer generation rather than broader system specifications or theorem proving goals. Consequently, they offer significant benefits for researchers and developers involved in programming language design by facilitating decisions that ensure semantic clarity and reliability in software engineering projects.