Modern Compiler Implementation in C: Basic Techniques

by Andrew W. Appel, Maia Ginsburg

This textbook explains all phases of a modern compiler: lexical analysis, parsing, abstract syntax, semantic actions, intermediate representations, instruction selection via tree matching, dataflow analysis, graph-colouring register allocation with coalescing, and runtime systems. It covers current techniques in code generation and register allocation, as well as functional and object-oriented languages, which are missing from most books. The author illustrates the most accepted and successful techniques in a concise way, rather than as an exhaustive catalogue of every possible variant. Detailed descriptions of the interfaces between modules of a compiler are illustrated with actual C header files. A unique feature of the book is a well-designed compiler implementation project in C, including front-end and 'high-tech' back-end phases, so that students can build a complete working compiler in one semester. The textbook is meant for use in a one-semester first course for undergraduates in compiler design. Accompanying support software is available.

Genres: Programming

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 1997

About the author

Andrew W. Appel, Ph.D. (Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 1985; A.B., Princeton University, 1981) is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, where he has been on the faculty since 1986. He served as department chair from 2009 to 2015. His research is in software verification, computer security, programming languages and compilers, and technology policy.

He has been editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems and is a fellow of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). He has worked on fast N-body algorithms (1980s), Standard ML of New Jersey (1990s), Foundational Proof-Carrying Code (2000s), and the Verified Software Toolchain (2010s). He is the author of several scientific papers on voting machines and election technology, served as an expert witness on two voting-related court cases in New Jersey, and has taught a course at Princeton on election machinery.

Reviews

[Nick Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appel is a tremendous badass, but I found this book rather uninspiring. It's at least more attractive than the flamboyant red Java edition, and of course infinitely more classy (no pun intended, har de har har).