Lambda the Ultimate

Presuming for now that a "module" 1) is a named and managed name space; 2) is a body of definitions, some of which are private and others provided for export to other modules; 3) is also a compilation unit; 4) is, in fact, imported by other modules, with circularity of imports forbidden or permitted based on the language definition; 5) is compiled separately and linked into a standalone "executable program" file; 6) may be a privileged module in an "executable program" linking activity as the "main" module containing either a function that begins program execution or a series of sequential definitions (or "statements") that essentially comprise an equivalent "main" function that begins program execution.

I think that's all grammatical, and in fact, more or less common policy for many programming languages with oodles of variations on this basic theme.

I seek papers that discuss (1) module initialization, such as a variable definition in a module that requires on it's "right hand side" a complex computation, 2) perhaps a computation that requires definitions from other modules, 3) the compile time determination of the "loading" or "initialization" of modules, 4) the wisdom or lack thereof of only allowing function definitions in modules, perhaps with only a special "initialization" section of the module definition (Modula 2, Turbo Pascal...); 5) policies regarding the permission or forbidding of circular module imports.

So I'm looking for the "finest available wisdom" about some fairly prosaic issues surrounding a few aspects - modules, initialization, ordering, separate compilation, etc. - of programming languages designed for static analysis and program compilation. Did anyone "get it just right?" Or has anyone layed out the essential and unavoidable design trade offs showing that "getting it right" is a matter of programming language design 1) taste or 2) intended purpose or 3) implementation complexity or 4) etc. - you get the idea.

I do prefer papers a *little* "closer to the run time," as it were. I happen to suffer the somewhat common "too many pages of Greek symbols shuts down my brain" syndrome :-)

Any and all help and pointers greatly appreciated.

Scott