A compiler is a computer program (or set of programs) that transforms source code written in a programming language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language, often having a binary form known as object code).
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Are VB.NET to C# converters actually compilers?
Whenever I see programs or scripts that convert between high-level programming languages they are always labelled as converters.
"VB.NET to C# converter" on Google results in expected, useful hits.
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1answer
86 views
Creating reproducible builds to verify Free Software [on hold]
Free Software is about freedom and privacy, Open Source software is great but making that fully practical usually won't happen. Most Free Software developers publicize binaries that we can't verify ...
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108 views
Requiring a specific order of compilaiton
When designing a compiled programming language, is it a bad idea to require a specific order of compilation of separate units, according to their dependencies?
To illustrate what I mean, consider C. ...
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Generating Wrappers for REST APIs [closed]
Would it be feasible to generate wrappers for REST APIs?
An earlier question asked about machine readable descriptions of RESTful services addressed how we could write (and then read) API ...
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1answer
154 views
How small is the footprint of a small C compiler?
This week I could optimize using a reduced C library that allowed a drastic shrinkage in code size - from about 60 K to about 6 K and then we could load the code in the 8 K on-chip memory of an FPGA ...
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3answers
140 views
What process do typical (the majority) of high level language compilers use when changing a source-code's variable name to a machine code name?
Do long (very long) variable names slow down the compilation of source code?
I'm aware that the length of variables has 0% impact on interpretation as the compiler changes them to machine code which ...
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1answer
146 views
.NET BCL Change Analysis - Uses Beyond Sating Curiosity
This is part of a series of questions which focuses on the Abstraction Project, which aims to abstract the concepts used in language design in the form of a framework. There is a sister project to ...
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2answers
132 views
Will a binary include methods that are not called in the source code?
[Potentially misleading title, but I'm not sure how best to word it.]
Theoretical question on compilers and language design.
Say I'm re-implementing a method in a code base. Instead of removing or ...
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1answer
160 views
Does setting a function public affect the C# compiler's ability to inline the function as an optimization?
This could be either for the .NET or Mono compilers.
I know that under certain conditions the compiler can inline functions (e.g. small, single call site, etc.) as an optimization. However, if the ...
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1answer
187 views
How to use BDD to unit test a compiler?
My team is writing a compiler for a domain-specific language (DSL) which will be integrated into an IDE. Right now, we are focused on the analysis phase of the compiler. We are not using any existing ...
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5answers
840 views
Does Scrum make sense when implementing a new compiler backend?
I have an existing language that I need to port to a new platform. I'll probably attempt this by changing the backend of the existing compiler.
It is a significant amount of work to re-write the ...
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1answer
106 views
Compiler design decision for dynamic method invocation
I asked about Compiler interpretation of overriding vs overloading on StackOverflow, and got good answers, but this led me to another question that I'm not sure is appropriate for SO, but I think is ...
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Learning YACC nowadays, does it make sense? [closed]
I have a huge project that is using YACC and I would need to fix a bug in it.
I might ask someone else who wrote that to fix it but I'm interested in how compilers work. Does it make sense to learn ...
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2answers
148 views
Building a tool to fix compiler errors automagically
When a program doesn't compile, error messages are sometimes esoteric. Often a simple Google search leading to a site like stack exchange solves the problem. Now why can't we automate this?
How ...
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10answers
3k views
Can compilers and interpreters have bugs, and what can we (as users) do to deal with them? [closed]
If a compiler's work is essentially translating source code into machine level code, can there be any glitch in a compiler, i.e. a faulty "translation?"
The same goes for an interpreter: can it fail ...
