Introduction To Compilers And Language Design

A compiler translates a program written in a high level language into a program written in a lower level language. For students of computer science, building a compiler from scratch is a rite of passage: a challenging and fun project that offers insight into many different aspects of computer science, some deeply theoretical, and others highly practical. This book offers a one semester introduction into compiler construction, enabling the reader to build a simple compiler that accepts a C-like language and translates it into working X86 or ARM assembly language. It is most suitable for undergraduate students who have some experience programming in C, and have taken courses in data structures and computer architecture.

Welcome to "Introduction to Compilers and Language Design." This book is a comprehensive journey into the fascinating world of compiler construction and the art of designing programming languages. Whether you are a seasoned software engineer looking to deepen your understanding of how compilers work or a budding programmer eager to explore the intricate process of creating your own programming language, this text is designed to be your guiding light. In these pages, we will embark on an exploration of the inner workings of compilers, from lexical analysis to code generation, delving into the theories, algorithms, and practical implementation techniques that power the software responsible for translating human-readable code into machine-executable instructions. Additionally, we will delve into the intricacies of language design, examining the principles that underpin the creation of expressive, efficient, and user-friendly programming languages. Whether your goal is to become a compiler expert or simply gain a deeper appreciation for the magic that happens behind the scenes when you write code, "Introduction to Compilers and Language Design" is your passport to this captivating realm of computer science.

This textbook is intended for an introductory course on Compiler Design, suitable for use in an undergraduate programme in computer science or related fields. Introduction to Compiler Design presents techniques for making realistic, though non-optimizing compilers for simple programming languages using methods that are close to those used in "real" compilers, albeit slightly simplified in places for presentation purposes. All phases required for translating a high-level language to machine language is covered, including lexing, parsing, intermediate-code generation, machine-code generation and register allocation. Interpretation is covered briefly. Aiming to be neutral with respect to implementation languages, algorithms are presented in pseudo-code rather than in any specific programming language, and suggestions for implementation in several different language flavors are in many cases given. The techniques are illustrated with examples and exercises. The author has taught Compiler Design at the University of Copenhagen for over a decade, and the book is based on material used in the undergraduate Compiler Design course there. Additional material for use with this book, including solutions to selected exercises, is available at http://www.diku.dk/~torbenm/ICD

The second edition of this textbook has been fully revised and adds material about loop optimisation, function call optimisation and dataflow analysis. It presents techniques for making realistic compilers for simple programming languages, using techniques that are close to those used in "real" compilers, albeit in places slightly simplified for presentation purposes. All phases required for translating a high-level language to symbolic machine language are covered, including lexing, parsing, type checking, intermediate-code generation, machine-code generation, register allocation and optimisation, interpretation is covered briefly. Aiming to be neutral with respect to implementation languages, algorithms are presented in pseudo-code rather than in any specific programming language, but suggestions are in many cases given for how these can be realised in different language flavours. Introduction to Compiler Design is intended for an introductory course in compiler design, suitable for both undergraduate and graduate courses depending on which chapters are used.

A compiler translates a program written in a high level language into a program written in a lower level language. For students of computer science, building a compiler from scratch is a rite of passage: a challenging and fun project that offers insight into many different aspects of computer science, some deeply theoretical, and others highly practical. This book offers a one semester introduction into compiler construction, enabling the reader to build a simple compiler that accepts a C-like language and translates it into working X86 or ARM assembly language. It is most suitable for undergraduate students who have some experience programming in C, and have taken courses in data structures and computer architecture.

Despite using them every day, most software engineers know little about how programming languages are designed and implemented. For many, their only experience with that corner of computer science was a terrifying "compilers" class that they suffered through in undergrad and tried to blot from their memory as soon as they had scribbled their last NFA to DFA conversion on the final exam. That fearsome reputation belies a field that is rich with useful techniques and not so difficult as some of its practitioners might have you believe. A better understanding of how programming languages are built will make you a stronger software engineer and teach you concepts and data structures you'll use the rest of your coding days. You might even have fun. This book teaches you everything you need to know to implement a full-featured, efficient scripting language. You'll learn both high-level concepts around parsing and semantics and gritty details like bytecode representation and garbage collection. Your brain will light up with new ideas, and your hands will get dirty and calloused. Starting from main(), you will build a language that features rich syntax, dynamic typing, garbage collection, lexical scope, first-class functions, closures, classes, and inheritance. All packed into a few thousand lines of clean, fast code that you thoroughly understand because you wrote each one yourself.

Implementing a programming language means bridging the gap from the programmer's high-level thinking to the machine's zeros and ones. If this is done in an efficient and reliable way, programmers can concentrate on the actual problems they have to solve, rather than on the details of machines. But understanding the whole chain from languages to machines is still an essential part of the training of any serious programmer. It will result in a more competent programmer, who will moreover be able to develop new languages. A new language is often the best way to solve a problem, and less difficult than it may sound. This book follows a theory-based practical approach, where theoretical models serve as blueprint for actual coding. The reader is guided to build compilers and interpreters in a well-understood and scalable way. The solutions are moreover portable to different implementation languages. Much of the actual code is automatically generated from a grammar of the language, by using the BNF Converter tool. The rest can be written in Haskell or Java, for which the book gives detailed guidance, but with some adaptation also in C, C++, C#, or OCaml, which are supported by the BNF Converter. The main focus of the book is on standard imperative and functional languages: a subset of C++ and a subset of Haskell are the source languages, and Java Virtual Machine is the main target. Simple Intel x86 native code compilation is shown to complete the chain from language to machine. The last chapter leaves the standard paths and explores the space of language design ranging from minimal Turing-complete languages to human-computer interaction in natural language.