During the last Tech Tuesday we talked about the syntax of programming languages as part of the cycle on programming. That’s a term you will hear frequently in no small part because when you get it wrong the computer will complain about it with a “syntax error.” Today’s topic is much more elusive and less talked about: semantics or what a program “means.” The “means” is in quotation marks because paraphrasing Bill Clinton, the answer depends on what the meaning of the word “means” is. Yes, se...

During the last Tech Tuesday we talked about the syntax of programming languages as part of the cycle on programming. That’s a term you will hear frequently in no small part because when you get it wrong the computer will complain about it with a “syntax error.” Today’s topic is much more elusive and less talked about: semantics or what a program “means.” The “means” is in quotation marks because paraphrasing Bill Clinton, the answer depends on what the meaning of the word “means” is. Yes, se...