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Compiler Design

Started by sakky Sep 30, 2002 at 5:21 PM 12 replies 600+ views

Original Post

Sep 30, 2002 at 5:21 PM

I''m searching around for building compilers and I found with book. Its called Compiler Design in C, by Allen I. Hulub. Have any of you heard of this book. I just started reading it and it has already revealed alot to me. The first few pages in chapter 1 start talking about the compiler structure. This is intresting, This book says that some compilers don''t have preprocessors; others generate ASM code in a second pass, optimize the ASM code directly, and don''t have a forth pass. Others generate binary instructions directly, with out an ASCII intermediate language ( ASM ). I would like to play around and make a goofy little programming language that runs a run time, like Java. Some real simple to have run and learn with.

daerid

Sep 30, 2002 at 5:30 PM

If you''re really interested in Compiler design, get the Dragon Book (Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools). It''s hardback, about $80, but it''s the compiler bible.

sakky

Author

sakky

Oct 1, 2002 at 1:26 AM

I''m looking for that book, but I need more information: author, title, and so on. Were I can get it cheap; if not amazon.

Oluseyi

526

Oluseyi

Oct 1, 2002 at 1:36 AM

Author: Aho and some others. (Aho is the "A" in "Awk"; Kernighan - of K & R fame - is the "K").
Title: Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools. Also see Compilers: Principles and Practice (aka Son of the Dragon Book).

You might be able to find it (or them) in the public library, and definitely in a university library (so long as they have a CS program).

OctDev

Oct 1, 2002 at 3:16 AM

Just to reiterate, get the dragon book. It trully is THE reference for compiler design and development.

The Tyr project is coming...

IainC

Oct 1, 2002 at 4:16 AM

If you fancy a different spin on the idea, get to Catseye Technologies or the Esoteric Languages Database.

Or if you want to take it a bit more seriously but (like me) are too skint to buy books, take a look at Let''s Build A Compiler by Jack Crenshaw or this tute.

www.coldcity.com
code, pics, life

Hippokrates

Oct 1, 2002 at 7:23 AM

I have got a question on the Dragon Book.
Will it teach me how to actually build a working compiler or will it just the general principles and techniques (feturing pseudo code...) ?

Oluseyi

526

Oluseyi

Oct 2, 2002 at 12:39 AM

There are things called book reviews and publisher websites... And you don''t have to wait until someone feels willing/capable to answer your question.

Anyway, the Son of the Dragon Book contained a lot of code for implementing a Pascal compiler (I last looked at it in ''97 or ''98). I''ve never read the Dragon Book, and choose a more implementation-oriented text from the library a week ago (which, incidentally, also builds a Pascal compiler, among others). The book I borrowed is called Writing Compilers and Interpreters.

paulmason

Oct 2, 2002 at 12:54 AM

Apart from the Dragon Book, I particularly like ''Programming Language Processors in Java: Compilers and Interpreters'' by David A. Watt, Deryck F. Brown, Deryck Brown, ISBN: 0130257869

see: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130257869/002-8432514-2450437#product-details

It''s a good beginner book that takes a practical approach to compiler development, and is easy to follow even if you aren''t using Java.

Paul

sakky

Author

sakky

Oct 2, 2002 at 10:32 PM

After reading into alot of the basic ideas with this book, making a compiler dons''t seam to hard. My book makes frequent references to Flex and Bisonm, with some documentation about them. So all in all, it seams like so far, the book is a good tutorial.

I like Java. But I would realy like to get into computer science. I would like to, if not make, at least come close to inventing my own C/C++ like language.

dMDI

Oct 3, 2002 at 4:15 AM

If you like Java, use SableCC, it is much nicer than most compiler compilers out there, and comes with lots of examples too. http://sablecc.org

spock

Oct 3, 2002 at 7:22 AM

Sounds like you might be interested in A Retargetable C Compiler: Design and Implementation. This book explains the details in the implementation of LCC, a complete ANSI C compiler with back-ends for several platforms including x86. It's a pretty good book if you want to see actual implementation concerns and issues, although some of the methods used are a bit old-fashioned.

But if you only buy one book on compiler design/construction, by all means go for the Dragon book. You need to understand the theory behind this stuff well.

[edited by - spock on October 3, 2002 8:36:28 AM]

spock

Oct 3, 2002 at 7:33 AM

quote:
Original post by daerid
get the Dragon Book (Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools). It's hardback, about $80, but it's the compiler bible.

Actally, a cheaper paperback edition do exist (or at least did when I bought it): the Addison-Wesley "World Student Series Edition". It's an unabridged reprint, but I don't think it is available in the US.

[edited by - spock on October 3, 2002 8:33:47 AM]

Redleaf

Oct 3, 2002 at 8:01 AM

I glanced over "Compiler Design in C" in my library recently when I went to pick up the Dragon book that everyone was recommending. It seems to be focused a bit more on the practical building of a compiler, while the Dragon book focuses heavily on the theoretical aspect. It looked good, however, and is a little more recent than the Dragon book.

Perhaps you should start with one, and then read the other? They''re gigantic books, but this is what I intend to do myself.

"Don''t be afraid to dream, for out of such fragile things come miracles."

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