# The meaning of a program change is a change to the program's meaning

## TL;DR

This paper advocates a shift in programming language theory towards understanding program changes as modifications to the program's meaning, emphasizing a change-oriented perspective.

## Contribution

It introduces a change-oriented viewpoint that redefines the meaning of program changes as alterations to the program's semantics.

## Key findings

- Highlights the gap in current theory focusing only on program meaning
- Proposes a new perspective linking program modifications to semantic changes
- Encourages future research on change semantics in programming languages

## Abstract

Programming is the activity of modifying a program in order to bring about specific changes in its behaviour. Yet programming language theory almost exclusively focuses on the meaning of programs. We motivate a "change-oriented" viewpoint from which the meaning of a program change is a change to the program's meaning.