# General Language

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Sequentially, the language looks similar to a language such as C. Each program statement is joined via sequential composition ";". When writing code, the programmer can use a main function (program entry point,) if this is omitted then the program will still work. If you as the programmer write a block which is empty then the compiler will give a static error - instead by using the statement skip; this will be avoided. In order to call functions (either user defined or language predefined) the programmer should use the syntax fnname[args]
Before we start talking about the language in detail it is important to understand the concepts of Single Program Multiple Data and Multiple Program Multiple Data. In SPMD, each process executes the same program with its own data, whereas in MPMD each process executes its own program and its own data. Using Mesham it is possible to write code in both these forms, and from our experience, by combining SPMD and MPMD together in a program can often give favourable results.
Mesham is designed, at the moment, for data parallelism, although we have not ruled out using it for task parallelism.
Last Modified: August 2008