A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in one programming language into another computer language.
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0answers
32 views
How to report multiple errors as a result of validation?
I have a class that transforms a complex model, for example an abstract syntax tree or intermediate model. The model can be either valid, invalid or partially invalid, i.e. it contains errors but some ...
0
votes
2answers
183 views
Do some built-in functions loop behind the scenes?
I mostly code in C# & VB, but I think this question is pretty universal. I try to limit loops to increase performance. For instance, string functions that split the string into an array, or do a ...
0
votes
2answers
239 views
Trust .net compiler after Microsoft updates
Microsoft releases upgrades and changes to .net, msbuild and Visual Studio quite frequently.
How can I be sure the MSIL code created by msbuild or the Roslyn compiler in VS 2015 will be the same or ...
4
votes
2answers
66 views
Testing strategies for interpreter language parser
For a recent personal project, I started working on an interpreter for my own programming language. One of the ground rules I set for myself on this project is that I need to properly test as much of ...
1
vote
2answers
195 views
How to reduce size of jar file?
I dont know how to reduce the size of jar file.
When we normally code in Java Swing the jar file is created, is there any way to reduce the size of jar file? I can't remove the images and other stuff ...
1
vote
1answer
96 views
Compiler design prevent register override
I'm trying to write a compiler for a self-designed CPU with accompanying instruction set. The CPU has 3 registers, 2 input registers (B and C) and one output register (D). When for example an ADD ...
0
votes
1answer
112 views
Are there compilers which optimize the use of mathematical functions?
Today while programming I stumbled upon the following question - are there any compilers which optimize based on mathematical assumptions?
For instance in cases like
unsigned int i,b;
(i,b not ...
23
votes
1answer
2k views
Why does the documentation on some languages say “equivalent to” rather than “is”?
Why does the documentation on some languages say "equivalent to" rather than "is"?
For example, the Python Docs say
itertools.chain(*iterables)
...
Equivalent to:
def ...
2
votes
2answers
68 views
JIT based on precompiled code templates
This is a crazy idea that I just came up with, and I'm interested in knowing if it would be workable, or if someone already wrote about or implemented it.
Imagine you are on a platform (a game ...
10
votes
4answers
246 views
Is there a standard way or standard alternative to packing a struct in c?
When programming in C I have found it invaluable to pack structs using GCCs __attribute__((__packed__)) attribute so I can easily convert a structured chunk of volatile memory to an array of bytes to ...
1
vote
1answer
111 views
Is an AST enough to build any translator? [closed]
Note: In my ignorance of the difference between Programmers vs StackOverflow sites (which I know now), I had posted this question on StackOverflow earlier. What I'm looking for is some elaboration, ...
18
votes
3answers
869 views
What is benefit that a compiler is implemented in the same language it compiles? [duplicate]
I've seen it's very common for a compiler to be made in the language it's compiling. What is the benefit of this? Seems like it makes the process for outsiders (and the developers for a while) more ...
53
votes
8answers
7k views
How can we be certain that the lower components of computer programming like compilers, assemblers, machine instructions, etc. are flawless?
Since we are becoming more and more reliant on computing, including very critical tasks of day-to-day life, I was just wondering how those vital components are tested.
More technically, how are the ...
-2
votes
1answer
126 views
How do I create my own Objective-C to Swift converter？ [closed]
I'm really interested in writing my own converter.
I know C++/Python/Objective-C/Swift and a little Haskell.
There are website like objectivec2swift and iswift.org, which can convert OC to Swift ...
3
votes
0answers
336 views
Writing a Compiler - .reloc section of the COFF
I'm looking for a little bit of direction in writing a compiler. I've written in Common Intermediate Language, C#, and various other .NET languages; I've written my own Metadata Parser and now I'm ...
5
votes
1answer
122 views
Strategies to increasing the maintainability of assertions in code [closed]
Background
I am writing a compiler for a custom language for a school project and it is going really well for me.
If I where to start all over from scratch I would have done many software ...
0
votes
5answers
87 views
Confusion about data types, compilers, hardware data representation and static vs dynamic typing [closed]
I am trying to understand static vs dynamic typing, but am really struggling to see how everything fits together.
It all starts with data types. As far as I understand, data types are quite abstract ...
1
vote
4answers
126 views
How are individual lines of code and functions stored in a Concrete Syntax Tree?
I'm trying to write a simple compiler for learning purposes. I've been reading the Dragon Book and Modern Compiler Design and one part I don't understand is how the Concrete Syntax Tree is actually ...
3
votes
1answer
138 views
Why is a frame pointer set as an offset from the stack pointer? [duplicate]
I'm trying to understand how stack frames are constructed and have run into this description on wikipedia:
The locations of all other fields in the frame can be defined relative
either to the ...
1
vote
2answers
123 views
How do Symbol Tables, Lexers and Parsers work together in a modern design? [closed]
I'm working on creating my own scripting language for learning purposes. I've been reading through the Dragon Book and some things are a little unclear to me regarding the Symbol Table as well as ...
-1
votes
2answers
68 views
Abstract Syntax Tree with parent or not? [closed]
My question is as simple as the title says -- should I implement AST with parent or not?
Currently I implemented it with parent -- the benefit of that approach is, that whatever I use, I can go up or ...
2
votes
1answer
99 views
Questions about compiler/interpreter design [closed]
I am implementing a programming language, for fun, in C. I have most of the parsing code done and also the AST ready. I once did write a runtime for this language some time ago, but I had some trouble ...
39
votes
6answers
5k views
Does an interpreter produce machine code?
I study the topics of compilers and interpreters intensively. I want to check if my base understanding is right, so let's assume the following:
I have a language called "Foobish" and its keywords are
...
5
votes
2answers
411 views
How are scripting languages compiled?
I know the term "scripting languages" is just a subset of programming languages, but I want to refer to programming languages such as Python and Ruby among others.
First of all, why don't we need a ...
3
votes
2answers
70 views
Implementing incremental builds [closed]
I'm working on a toy language.
Until now, multiple files have been compiled by merging the ASTs of each file and then running the semantic analysis and code generation phase on the merged AST.
Now ...
1
vote
1answer
93 views
Why some compilers do not synthesize the move operations at all per this paragraph in C++ Primer 5th?
In particular, if a class defines its own copy constructor, copy-assignment operator, or destructor, the move constructor and move-assignment operator are not synthesized.
—— quote from "13.6.2. ...
2
votes
1answer
215 views
Dependency ordering algorithm of a compiler
Let's say, hypothetically, I'm writing a Java compiler. And we assume that in my case a class can't be fully compiled until all signatures of dependencies (imports and other used classes) are known. ...
0
votes
2answers
93 views
How does the LLVM compiler treat arithmetic operations in parentheses?
When it sees the parentheses, does it have the machine do the operations in the parentheses first, or does it distribute out the parentheses?
Like, if I have the following line of code:
int i = 2 * ...
4
votes
2answers
131 views
Mutable AST vs. different immutable ASTs
I am writing a toy compiler. During the semantic passes, I want to add information to the AST. Which of the following is the best approach?
Define 1 mutable AST type whose fields are updated with ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
How does Chrome V8 work? And why was JavaScript not JIT-Compiled in the first place?
I have been researching Interpreters/Compilers, then I stumbled across JIT-Compilation - specifically Google Chrome's V8 Javascript Engine.
My questions are -
How can it be faster than standard ...
2
votes
4answers
130 views
Clean Abstract Syntax Tree
I'm writing a toy compiler for fun.
Basically, my problem is that I don't want to clutter the AST with stuff like debug information (symbol tokens, locations of tokens, etc) as well as data that the ...
0
votes
0answers
77 views
Why are datatypes different in terms of bit size based on complier, and OS used
I was reading a tutorial on C++ as I am new to programming, and I was wondering why the sizeof operator gives different output depending on what you're programming with.
3
votes
3answers
897 views
Why does Python need both a compiler and an interpreter?
I can understand the fact that Java needs both a compiler and an interpreter. It compiles source code to bytecode and then a virtual machine (on Windows, on Linux, on Android, etc.) translates that ...
0
votes
3answers
154 views
Would it be possible to create a language similar to Ruby/Python with static typing that had the speed/memory usage of a compiled C program? [closed]
One of the main drawbacks of Ruby/Python is performance. I understand that they are interpreted and C is compiled. (And there are things like JRuby which do JIT compilation with Ruby). But they never ...
39
votes
13answers
6k views
How safe is it to compile a piece of source code from a random stranger? [closed]
Suppose I'm reviewing code that job applicants send to prove their skills. Clearly I don't want to run executables they send. Not so clearly I'd rather not run the result of compilation of their code ...
5
votes
5answers
2k views
Compilation to bytecode vs machine code
Does compilation that produces an interim bytecode (like with Java), rather than going "all the way" to machine code, generally involve less complexity (and thus likely take less time)?
30
votes
6answers
6k views
Why do programs use call stacks, if nested function calls can be inlined?
Why not have the compiler take a program like this:
function a(b) { return b^2 };
function c(b) { return a(b) + 5 };
and convert it into a program like this:
function c(b) { return b^2 + 5 };
...
0
votes
0answers
317 views
Java platform vs Source/Binary format settings in Netbeans
I've just wanted to get to know what these particular settings really do:
Project Properties -> Libraries -> Java Platform
Project Properties -> Sources -> Source/Binary Format
After a little bit ...
4
votes
1answer
228 views
Do java .class files have a lexer/parser?
I've been learning ANTLR, by writing my own (extremely simple!) programming language
It made me curious about how the lexer/parser/AST is implemented for java. Obviously there is a grammar for .java ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
How do Java AOT compilers work?
There are a few number of tools out there (Excelsior JET, etc.) that claim to transform Java app's into native executables (*.exe). However it is my understanding that these tools are really just ...
9
votes
8answers
2k views
What stops C from being compiled/interpreted/JIT'ed?
Java is often praised for its amazing portability, which I presume is because of the JVM. My question is what stops C from being being compiled/interpreted/JIT'ed.., if so, C can also be write once ...
1
vote
2answers
234 views
Difference between PyPy and JVM
From my understanding the default Python interpreter(CPython) compiles source code into bytecode and then interprets the bytecode into machine code. PyPy on the other hand makes use of JIT to optimize ...
4
votes
6answers
930 views
Should I use a source-to-source or a traditional compiler in order to develop my own Programming Language?
I'm really interested in writing my own general-purpose high-level programming language, but I'm somewhat confused.
I know that Python and Ruby were written in C, which makes me wonder that if I want ...
3
votes
1answer
102 views
How do hybrid interpreter-JIT compilers work?
Chrome's V8 compiler, the Java HotSpot compiler, and many more have multiple tiers of interpretation and compilation.
A function starts off as interpreted in HotSpot and then, if it is run often ...
1
vote
4answers
2k views
const reference and const pointer. How do they work?
I read a post about how const storage works.
How does const storage work? (Item 2, Scott Myers Effective C++)
This says that each segment has separate section of write protected memory and const ...
1
vote
1answer
382 views
AST processing and usefulness of visitor pattern
I know the visitor pattern is typically used to traverse a hierarchy of heterogeneous objects (inheriting a same abstract object) and dissociate the processing of these objects from the data within ...
4
votes
4answers
625 views
How can I implement an 'if' statement in an interpreter?
If I were writing a compiler (say for a stack-based VM), the code for an if statement:
if (<some_expression>)
{
<some_instructions>
}
Would be translated to the following ...
1
vote
1answer
161 views
Is it bad to implement a language in other two languages? [closed]
Ok, so I have some understanding about parsers and compilers, at least the basics of how it works, and i've written a calculator and a really small toy language that compiles to another high-level ...
1
vote
1answer
165 views
Single import in a large file vs. multiple imports in smaller files. [Golang]
I'm sure the folks at Google worked long and hard to ensure the programmer wouldn't have to worry about details like this, but I'm curious.
In Go if I have multiple files in the same package, but ...
6
votes
2answers
203 views
What is the minimum practical definition for the Scheme language?
What is the smallest practical set of primitives that can be used to define the Scheme language?
For example, map can be defined as
(define (map proc lis)
(cond ((null? lis)
'())
...
