[...] this text is lighter on theory than others. As we build each piece of the system, I will introduce the history and concepts behind it. I’ll try to get you familiar with the lingo so that if you ever find yourself in a cocktail party full of PL (programming language) researchers, you’ll fit in.But we’re mostly going to spend our brain juice getting the language up and running. This is not to say theory isn’t important. Being able to reason precisely and formally about syntax and semantics is a vital skill when working on a language. But, personally, I learn best by doing. It’s hard for me to wade through paragraphs full of abstract concepts and really absorb them. But if I’ve coded something, run it, and debugged it, then I get it.That’s my goal for you. I want you to come away with a solid intuition of how a real language lives and breathes. My hope is that when you read other, more theoretical books later, the concepts there will firmly stick in your mind, adhered to this tangible substrate.
Thanks for the cross-posting, which gets everything usefully in one place.