"a light, fairly popular science article"

[Lin Liu]

> Meaningful Modeling: What's the Semantics of "Semantics"?
>
> written by David Harel and Bernhard Rumpe and published
> in IEEE Computer, Oct. 2004.
>
> Abstract:
>
> The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a complex collection of mostly
> diagrammatic notations for software modeling, and its standardization has
> prompted an animated discussion about UML's semantics and how to represent
> it. We have thus set out to clarify some of the notions involved in
> defining modeling languages, with an eye toward the particular
> difficulties arising in defining UML. We are primarily interested in
> distinguishing a language's notation, or syntax, from its meaning, or
> semantics, as well as recognizing the differences between variants of
> syntax and semantics in their nature, purpose, style, and use.
>
> link:
>
> http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/harel04modeling.html
>
>