computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

, a programming language reference or language reference manual is part of the

documentation Documentation is any communicable material that is used to describe, explain or instruct regarding some attributes of an object, system or procedure, such as its parts, assembly, installation, maintenance, and use. As a form of knowledge managem ...

associated with most mainstream

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Programming languages are described in terms of their Syntax (programming languages), syntax (form) and semantics (computer science), semantics (meaning), usually def ...

s. It is written for

user Ancient Egyptian roles * User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty * Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User" Other uses * User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...

s and developers, and describes the basic elements of the language and how to use them in a program. For a command-based language, for example, this will include details of every available command and of the

syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...

for using it. The reference manual is usually separate and distinct from a more detailed

programming language specification In computer programming, a programming language specification (or standard or definition) is a documentation artifact that defines a programming language so that users and implementors can agree on what programs in that language mean. Specificati ...

meant for implementors of the language rather than those who simply use it to accomplish some processing task. There may also be a separate introductory guide aimed at giving newcomers enough information to start writing programs, after which they can consult the reference manual for full details. Frequently, however, a single publication contains both the introductory material and the language reference.

External links

Ada 2005 Language Reference Manual
(at adaic.com)
The Python Language Reference
(at python.org) *