Re: Good practical language and OS agnostic text?

On 17/04/2012 22:28, compilers@is-not-my.name wrote:
> Guys, I'm having a bear of a time finding a good practical language
> and OS agnostic text on writing a compiler. I'm weak in math and not
> interested in the theoretical details. I want to understand the hows
> and whys of compiler writing.


I always recommend:
A Retargetable C Compiler: Design and Implementation
by David R. Hanson and Christopher W. Fraser


If you are weak on math you might have a problem getting your head
around recursion. If you cannot understand recursion your compiler
writing days are finished.


> I think of all the compilers were written in the DOS days and there
> were normal guys writing them, not Nobel math prizewinners. Shirley


In my experience compiler writers are not normal guys, but then I
am a vested interest.


> [Sorry to burst your bubble, but I knew people writing compilers for
> DOS, and they understood parsing theory just fine. Although I agree
> that some compiler texts are more readable than others, the math isn't
> there to be obscure, it's there because understanding how state
> machines and LL and LR work makes writing fast and reliable scanners
> and parsers vastly easier. As far as the language they use for ...]


I would question whether it is necessary to have any deep knowledge
of parsing theory. Some knowledge of state machines is useful for any
kind of software development.


I would add my voice to the previous posters who suggested our
moderator's book, flex & bison.

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