Constraint-Based Grammar Formalisms: Parsing and Type Inference for Natural and Computer Languages

Rating:
Summary: I made the right choice
Review: I remember when I saw this book in the bookstore (back in the days when "bookstore" meant a physical place). I was torn -- I already owned a copy of the thesis; should I pay good money for a book that might turn out to be just a reprinting of the thesis with a nicer cover? I tried to determine how much was new, but in the end I thought "there's probably only a few hundred people in the world who are really interested in this topic; if I don't buy it, who will?" I'm glad I did buy it; ten years later I still remember the point about the boundary between syntax and semantics being a fluid one; one that computational linguists draw in a different place than programming language designers. The rest of the book is also worth reading, whether or not you've read the thesis.

Rating:
Summary: I made the right choice
Review: I remember when I saw this book in the bookstore (back in the days when "bookstore" meant a physical place). I was torn -- I already owned a copy of the thesis; should I pay good money for a book that might turn out to be just a reprinting of the thesis with a nicer cover? I tried to determine how much was new, but in the end I thought "there's probably only a few hundred people in the world who are really interested in this topic; if I don't buy it, who will?" I'm glad I did buy it; ten years later I still remember the point about the boundary between syntax and semantics being a fluid one; one that computational linguists draw in a different place than programming language designers. The rest of the book is also worth reading, whether or not you've read the thesis.

Rating:
Summary: Crisp, clean, clear, and in its way very witty
Review: One of my favorite books on the subject -- crisp, clear, clean, and in its way very witty.