Mistakes in the Concepts of Programming Languages Textbook by Sebesta

Dynamic Links:

 
The description of dynamic links in chapter 10  is incorrect, and in conflict with what is said about the whole subprogram invocation process.
 
Here are relevant excerpts from the book.
 
" The dynamic link is a pointer to the top of the activation record instance of the caller. In static-scoped languages, this link is used in the destruction of the current activation record instance when the procedure completes its execution. The stack top is set to the value of the old dynamic link. The dynamic link is required, because in some cases there are other allocations from the stack by a subprogram beyond its activation record.
For example, temporaries needed by the machine language version of the program may be allocated there. So, although the size of the activation record may be known, the size cannot simply be subtracted from the stack top pointer to remove the activation record". (p. 444)
 
 
"   One more thing is required to control the execution of a subprogram, the EP. Initially, the EP points at the base, or first address of the activation record instance of the main program. Subsequently, the run-time system must ensure that it always points at the base of the activation record instance of the currently executing program unit. When a subprogram is called, the current EP is saved in the new activation record instance along with the other execution status information. The EP is then set to point to the base of the new activation record instance. Upon return from the subprogram, the EP is restored from the activation record instance of the subprogram that has completed its execution.
 
   Note that the EP currently being used is not stored in the runtime stack. Only saved versions are stored in the activation record instances. Because such saved versions are stored  with the other execution status information, the stored EP's are not shown in the figures of the runtime stack". (p.445)
 
"The collection of dynamic links present in the stack at a given time is called the dynamic chain, or call chain" (p. 447)
 
"The dynamic chain links together all subprogram activation record instances in the reverse order in which they were activated. Therefore, the dynamic chain is exactly what is needed to reference nonlocal variables in a dynamic-scoped language. This method is called deep access, because access may require searches deep in the stack" (p. 461)
 
 
Now:
  1. The way it is described here, there is no need for the "dynamic link", since the previous stack top is just the location one below the current EP value. Hence, in order to "destroy" the current activation record, just set the stack top to the location one below the current EP value.
  2. More  importantly, "the size cannot simply be subtracted from the stack top pointer to remove the activation record" means that the real size of each activation record is not known in advance, and  we cannot just follow  the "dynamic chain" in order to implement dynamic scoping.  (remember, all offsets are from the beginning of the activation record instance, not the top!)
  3. There is nothing mysterious about the "other execution status information": it is the "return address to the calling subprogram", and the static link, both of which are already shown in the activation records.
THE SOLUTION The handling of the EP is described correctly, but there is a missing link! The "dynamic link" in the topmost activation record instance should be just the saved EP of the calling subprogram, not the old stack top pointer.   That way everything falls into place, dynamic chain can now be traced, and the previous stack top is not saved unnecessarily.


Horn Clauses:

In page 690, it is said that "Horn clauses with empty left sides, which are often used to state facts, are called headless Horn Clauses. For example, father(bob,jake)"

We can call "Horn clauses with empty left sides" whatever we like, but they are certainly not used to state facts! In fact a "headless Horn Clause" is the negation of a query consisting of a conjunction of atoms. Facts are Horn clauses without the body!