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Semantic analysis or context sensitive analysis is a process in compiler construction, usually after parsing, to gather necessary semantic information from the source code. [1] It usually includes type checking , or makes sure a variable is declared before use which is impossible to describe in the extended Backus–Naur form and thus not ...
In more detail, in a compiler, the lexer performs one of the earliest stages of converting the source code to a program. It scans the text to extract meaningful tokens, such as words, numbers, and strings. The parser analyzes sequences of tokens attempting to match them to syntax rules representing language structures, such as loops and ...
Denotational semantic descriptions can also serve as compositional translations from a programming language into the denotational metalanguage and used as a basis for designing compilers. Operational semantics , [ 7 ] whereby the execution of the language is described directly (rather than by translation).
Compiler design. Regardless of the exact number of phases in the compiler design, the phases can be assigned to one of three stages. The stages include a front end, a middle end, and a back end. The front end scans the input and verifies syntax and semantics according to a specific source language.
In computer science, type safety and type soundness are the extent to which a programming language discourages or prevents type errors.Type safety is sometimes alternatively considered to be a property of facilities of a computer language; that is, some facilities are type-safe and their usage will not result in type errors, while other facilities in the same language may be type-unsafe and a ...
The AST is used intensively during semantic analysis, where the compiler checks for correct usage of the elements of the program and the language. The compiler also generates symbol tables based on the AST during semantic analysis. A complete traversal of the tree allows verification of the correctness of the program.
In computing, compiler correctness is the branch of computer science that deals with trying to show that a compiler behaves according to its language specification. [ citation needed ] Techniques include developing the compiler using formal methods and using rigorous testing (often called compiler validation) on an existing compiler.
Type errors (such as an attempt to apply the ++ increment operator to a Boolean variable in Java) and undeclared variable errors are sometimes considered to be syntax errors when they are detected at compile-time. It is common to classify such errors as (static) semantic errors instead. [2] [3] [4]