Preliminaries -- Evolution of the major programming languages -- Describing sytax and semantics -- Lexical and syntax analysis -- Names, bindings, type checking, and scopes -- Data types -- Expressions and assignment statements -- Statement-level control structures -- Subprograms -- Implementing subprograms -- Abstract data types and encapsulation constructs -- Support for object-oriented programming -- Concurrency -- Exception handling and event handling -- Functional programming languages -- Logic programming languages.