<p>Try reading a good textbook on the principles of programming language design, including semantics, e.g., Nielson &amp; Nielson's textbook.  See also <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_deduction" rel="nofollow noreferrer">natural deduction rules</a> (e.g., <a href="https://cs.stackexchange.com/q/62679/755">https://cs.stackexchange.com/q/62679/755</a>), first-order logic, and variable renaming.  See <a href="https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/q/3533/5038">Books on programming language semantics</a>.  <span class="math-container">$e[x/v]$</span> represents substitution; <span class="math-container">$x$</span> is replaced by <span class="math-container">$v$</span> in <span class="math-container">$e$</span>.  This should all be covered by a good textbook.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-27T04:43:09.533Z
2021-05-27T04:43:09.533Z
D.W.
<p>I am trying to read this paper:
<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1510.00925" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://arxiv.org/abs/1510.00925</a>.
I am familiar with grammars, but I cannot understand the notations in figure 1. Can anyone suggest a resource or book where I can learn these notations? Here is what figure 1 looks like:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/mBRy7.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/mBRy7.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
I understand that the first part is specifying the grammar. But I don't understand the rest like what is <span class="math-container">$e[x/v]$</span>?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-27T01:53:53.530Z
Perhaps you could edit your post to include the notation you are asking about?  (E.g., a snapshot of part of that figure, with attribution.)
Neal Young
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-27T04:42:20.433Z
This doesn't seem like a research-level question to me.
D.W.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-27T06:08:44.323Z
This is the wrong forum to ask such questions. I recommend asking on cs.stackexchange.com, where someone's going to recommend [TAPL](https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/tapl/) to you.
Andrej Bauer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-27T13:08:18.200Z
Did you mean the BNF syntax?
ice1000
<pl.programming-languages>
Resource for Understanding this Notation
Mason
# Resource for Understanding this Notation

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-26)

I am trying to read this paper:
<https://arxiv.org/abs/1510.00925>.
I am familiar with grammars, but I cannot understand the notations in figure 1. Can anyone suggest a resource or book where I can learn these notations? Here is what figure 1 looks like:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/mBRy7.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/mBRy7.png)
I understand that the first part is specifying the grammar. But I don't understand the rest like what is $e[x/v]$?

**Tags:** pl.programming-languages

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Perhaps you could edit your post to include the notation you are asking about?  (E.g., a snapshot of part of that figure, with attribution.)  
> **username_2**: This doesn't seem like a research-level question to me.  
> **username_3**: This is the wrong forum to ask such questions. I recommend asking on cs.stackexchange.com, where someone's going to recommend [TAPL](https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/tapl/) to you.  
> **username_4**: Did you mean the BNF syntax?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-05-27. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Try reading a good textbook on the principles of programming language design, including semantics, e.g., Nielson & Nielson's textbook. See also [natural deduction rules](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_deduction) (e.g., <https://cs.stackexchange.com/q/62679/755>), first-order logic, and variable renaming. See [Books on programming language semantics](https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/q/3533/5038). $e[x/v]$ represents substitution; $x$ is replaced by $v$ in $e$. This should all be covered by a good textbook.


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