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Compilers: How To Make a Programming Language

Other compiler-related topics out of scope:

  • What are programs anyway (Forth, LISP)
  • Computation: Turing machines, lambda calculus
  • Compiler optimization
  • GC (motivated by LISP)

aesthetics:

  • stay motivated; stick close to a c-like, imperative, procedural model because that's what people are used to

motivation / goals / what questions are we trying to answer:

  • I want to be able to make a toy procedural language.
    • like C, Algol, JS, Lua, etc.
    • possible user motivations:
      • I want to make a game scripting language
      • I want to make a DSL for my job (and I want syntax highlighting!)
  • I want to do simple static analysis of my projects

ok what do we want to cover

  • classical compiler structure (lexer -> parser -> codegen)
Star Title Page
Phases of a Compiler https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/phases-of-a-compiler/
* Compiler Architecture https://cs.lmu.edu/~ray/notes/compilerarchitecture/
Compiler Design https://www.tutorialspoint.com/compiler_design/compiler_design_phases_of_compiler.htm
Structure of a Compiler https://www.csd.uwo.ca/~mmorenom/CS447/Lectures/Introduction.html/node10.html
The Structure of a Compiler https://www.brainkart.com/article/The-Structure-of-a-Compiler_8121/
Wikipedia: Compiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiler
The Structure of a Compiler (slides) https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~fischer/cs536.s08/lectures/Lecture04.4up.pdf
Wikipedia: Code Generation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_generation_(compiler)
Intro to Code Generation https://cs.lmu.edu/~ray/notes/codegen/
Code Generation https://www.tutorialspoint.com/compiler_design/compiler_design_code_generation.htm
*? Phases of a Compiler https://www.guru99.com/compiler-design-phases-of-compiler.html
*? Writing a C Compiler (Pt. 1) https://norasandler.com/2017/11/29/Write-a-Compiler.html
V: Phases of a Compiler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE7f3sGLGVk
* V: Different Phases of Comp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TApMNhQPaCM
* V: Parser and Lexer (Pt. 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF9qWbuQLuw
  • semantic analysis / type checking
Star Title Page
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiler#Front_end
Compiler Design - SA https://www.tutorialspoint.com/compiler_design/compiler_design_semantic_analysis.htm
* What is Semantic Analysis? https://home.adelphi.edu/~siegfried/cs372/372l8.pdf
*? SA in Compiler Design https://iq.opengenus.org/semantic-analysis-in-compiler-design/
*? Implementation of SA https://pgrandinetti.github.io/compilers/page/implementation-semantic-analysis/
*? What is SA in a Compiler? https://pgrandinetti.github.io/compilers/page/what-is-semantic-analysis-in-compilers/
SA (Slides) https://www.computing.dcu.ie/~davids/courses/CA4003/CA4003_Semantic_Analysis_2p.pdf
V: The Semantic Analysis! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j172YWmBk5A
V: Intro to Semantic Analysis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC8YRnDGMwI
V: Compiler Design SA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57U6pQRnSJA
V: Semantic Analysis: Intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pHmBEkeIdQ
Star Title Page
Type Checking in Compiler Design https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/type-checking-in-compiler-design/
Type Checking (Slides) https://www.slideshare.net/dipongkersen81/type-checkingcompilier-design
What is Static Type Checking? https://www.tutorialspoint.com/what-is-static-type-checking
What is Dynamic Type Checking? https://www.tutorialspoint.com/what-is-dynamic-type-checking
Type Systems https://www.csd.uwo.ca/~mmorenom/CS447/Lectures/TypeChecking.html/node1.html
V: Type Checking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TQVAKby6oI
  • modern compiler structures (IR / SSA, optimization)
Star Title Page
Modern Compiler Design (Book) https://www.cs.usfca.edu/~galles/compilerdesign/cimplementation.pdf
Modern Compiler Design (Different Book) http://160592857366.free.fr/joe/ebooks/ShareData/Modern%20Compiler%20Design%202e.pdf
Wikipedia (IR) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_representation
* Intermediate Representations https://cs.lmu.edu/~ray/notes/ir/
Intermediate Representations in Comp Design https://iq.opengenus.org/intermediate-representations-in-compiler-design/
*? Intermediate Representation (Slides) https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/spring03/cs320/notes/IR-trans1.pdf
Single Static Assignment (Slides) https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~fp/courses/15411-f08/lectures/09-ssa.pdf
Wikipedia (SSA) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_single_assignment_form
Understanding SSA Forms https://blog.yossarian.net/2020/10/23/Understanding-static-single-assignment-forms
* V: Anders Hejlsberg on Modern Comp. Construction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSdV1M7n4gQ
  • interpreters vs. JITs vs. AOTs vs. "transpilers"
Star Title Page
Wikipedia (Compiler) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiler
Wikipedia (Interpreter) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpreter_(computing)
Interpreters vs. Compilers https://www.programiz.com/article/difference-compiler-interpreter
*? Compiler vs. Interpreter, What's the Difference? https://www.guru99.com/difference-compiler-vs-interpreter.html
Wikipedia (Transpiler [Source-to-source compiler]) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-to-source_compiler
Compiling vs. Transpiling (Stack Overflow) https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44931479/compiling-vs-transpiling
What does a JIT do? (Stack Overflow) https://stackoverflow.com/questions/95635/w hat-does-a-just-in-time-jit-compiler-do
JIT Compilation Explained https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/just-in-time-compilation-explained/
Wikpedia (JIT Compilation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-in-time_compilation
  • executables and linkers
Star Title Page
Wikipedia (Linker) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linker_(computing)
Intro to compiler, linker, and libraries (C++) https://www.learncpp.com/cpp-tutorial/introduction-to-the-compiler-linker-and-libraries/
Differences Between Compilers and Linkers (Stack Overflow) https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3831312/what-are-the-differences-between-a-compiler-and-a-linker
* Beginner's Guide to Linkers https://www.lurklurk.org/linkers/linkers.html
* V: Compiling, Assembling, and Linking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2y6csonII4
V: How the Linker Combines Object Files https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXk87NRTL1Y
V: Assembler, Linker, and Loader (C) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJDRShqtTbk
What is an executable file? https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/execfile.htm
Wikipedia (Executable) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable
* V: What are Executables? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnqOhgI_8wA
* V: What is an EXE file? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5ldP1P1Rzc
  • regular expressions?
  • regular languages / grammars / language structure / automata
  • terminology?

the c compilation process

  • translation units
  • preprocessing -> (the whole compilation process) -> object files -> linking
  • c compilation model is not in favor any more, don't like compiling all these files separately
  • ABIs and FFI
  • should maybe be in separate article

experts / consultants:

  • Bill
  • NeGate

The actual progression

  • Simple expression interpreter (parse and evaluate)
  • Classical compiler construction (lex -> parse -> output), semantic analysis / type checking
    • motivation: complex structures! recursion! etc.
    • many of these resources exist and cover different aspects of the process in different ways
  • Grammars and language structure
  • Types of output (interpreter vs. AOT vs. JIT, etc.)
    • We can probably find resources on specific ones of these
  • Modern phases (IR / SSA)
    • Mention WASM?
  • The terrors of the real world
    • Executables, linkers, and debug info
    • Also debug info
    • The C ABI and FFI
    • Debug info
    • Codegen
      • Specifically: machine code generation, of reasonable quality
        • Note: not necessary for all "compilers"
      • Topics: register allocation, instruction selection, instruction scheduling
      • Some examples of optimization passes
      • There are not a lot of resources for this. Place a public TODO here?
  • Appendix:
    • Grammar basics (BNF, EBNF)
      • Need not go into exhaustive detail on categories of grammars
    • C is not the only language
      • Brief summaries and examples of different language approaches:
        • LISP
        • Forth
        • Languages in the ML family
      • This could be a whole topic maybe

Link dump

Books

Webpages

From NeGate

Articles that we need to write

  • Codegen (needs more details)
  • Debug info