The Handbook of Programming Languages (HPL): Imperative Programming Languages

The second volume in the Handbook of Programming Languages series, Imperative Programming Languages presents some of the most widely used languages of all time. These languages primarily process instructions methodically.

The first part of this book discusses Fortran, and two chapters on C follow. The part on C relates the language's history and its evolution from its predecessor, B. This section then presents an in-depth, analytical look at the structure of the language.

The book briefly touches on intermediate languages such as Cfront, LaTeX, and IL. Finally, Imperative Programming Languages includes a part on Pascal--emphasizing Turbo Pascal--and the high-level language Icon.

Like all of the volumes in this series, volume 2 includes an excellent foreword that traces the entire history of programming and features diagrams inside each cover that illustrate where each discussed language came from. This installment is handy as both a historical account of these languages and as a language reference. --Stephen Plain