EECS 490: Programming Languages

Fall 2021

Programming languages are rich mathematical structures and powerful user interfaces. This course covers the design and use of modern programming languages. We will build up systematically from mathematical first principles while considering human factors in language design, language prototyping, and techniques for reasoning about program behavior throughout the course.

The goal is to change the way you think about programming and programming language design in ways that will remain relevant across the many technology hype cycles that you will encounter over the course of your careers.

Schedule

Open in Google Calendar

Day	#	Lecture Topic	Deadline	Readings
Tue 31 Aug	1	Course Overview		Required: Cornell CS 3110 Notes, Ch. 2
Thu 2 Sep	2	Programming with Mathematical Expressions	Survey 1 out	Required: Cornell CS 3110 Notes, Ch. 3 (except 3.1.3)
Tue 7 Sep	3	Recursive Datatypes and Recursion Schemes	A1 out	Required: Cornell CS 3110 Notes, Ch. 4
Thu 9 Sep	4	Equational and Inductive Reasoning	Survey 1 due	Required: Princeton COS 326 Notes on Reasoning: Basics, Lists
Tue 14 Sep	5	Syntax
Thu 16 Sep	6	Semantics	A1 due A2 out
Tue 21 Sep	7	Types
Thu 23 Sep	8	Variables	A2 due (free late day) A3 out (Friday night)
Tue 28 Sep	9	Functions and Recursive Expressions
Thu 30 Sep	10	Products	A3 due A4 out (Friday night)
Tue 5 Oct	11	Sums
Thu 7 Oct	12	Recursive Types	A4 due A5 out (Friday night)
Tue 12 Oct	13	Parametric Polymorphism
Thu 14 Oct	14	Constructive Logic (Proofs are Programs)	A5 due (Sat. 16 Oct)	Optional: Propositions as Types by Philip Wadler
Tue 19 Oct	-	No class (Fall Study Break)
Thu 21 Oct	-	Midterm (during lecture slot, see Piazza)
Tue 26 Oct	15	Dynamic Classification, Gradual Typing, and Typed Holes		Optional: What is Gradual Typing by Jeremy Siek
Thu 28 Oct	16	Imperative Programming I - Side Effects	A6 out Mid-Semester Survey out	Optional: TAPL Ch. 13
Tue 2 Nov	17	Imperative Programming II - Mutable Data Structures
Thu 4 Nov	18	Encapsulated Commands (e.g. Haskell's IO types), Imperative Program Verification I	A6 due A7 out	Optional: Introduction to IO (Haskell Wiki), Optional: CMU 17-654: Hoare Logic: Proving Programs Correct Optional: Washington CSE 331: Reasoning About Code (Hoare Logic)
Tue 9 Nov	19	Imperative Program Verification II
Thu 11 Nov	20	Ownership and Borrowing in Rust I		Optional: Rust Book Ch. 4.1-4.2: Understanding Ownership
Tue 16 Nov	21	Ownership and Borrowing in Rust II	A7 due A8 out
Thu 18 Nov	22	Parallelism and Cost Semantics I		Optional: PFPL Ch. 37-38
Tue 23 Nov	23	Parallelism and Cost Semantics II
Thu 25 Apr		No class - Thanksgiving Break
Tue 30 Nov	24	Concurrent Interaction	A8 due A9 out	Optional: PFPL Ch. 39
Thu 2 Dec	25	Distributed Computation		Optional: PFPL Ch. 40
Tue 7 Dec	26	Macro Systems	A9 due End-of-semester survey out	Optional: Macros - Rust Book
Thu 9 Dec	27	Special Topics
Fri 17 Dec		Final Exam (8:00-10:00am)

For technical questions, please use Piazza. For administrative questions, please email the instructional staff collectively at eecs490staff@umich.edu unless you have a specific reason for contacting a staff member individually.