Re: compiler writing as a career?

I've made my living writing/enhancing compilers for about 25 years and
know several others who have done the same. I haven't worked at the
same company for all 25 years (and if fact, most of the companies have
evntually gone out of business or been absorbed by some other
company). However, I have had numerous stints more than 5 years and
one of 10 years and generally I wanted to move on before the company
was "tired" of me.


On the other hand, I haven't always worked on traditional compilers,
for all 25 years. I've also worked on a wide variety of tools, but
all of them have had some compiler component. If your key tool is a
hammer, you can always find a nail somewhere. A great example of that
was the time I worked on something that was marketed as a memory leak
detector, but in reality the key part of the software was a global
optimizer.


Hope this helps,
-Chris


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Chris Clark Internet : compres@world.std.com
Compiler Resources, Inc. Web Site : http://world.std.com/~compres
23 Bailey Rd voice : (508) 435-5016
Berlin, MA 01503 USA fax : (978) 838-0263 (24 hours)
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