Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

[Joel Reymont]

Folks,

What are good OCaml resources for an aspiring compiler or interpreter  
writer? I already know about the "One-day Compiler" presentation.

I would like to write a translator from a proprietary trading  
language that's very Pascal-like (EasyLanguage for Omega  
TradeStation). This seems like a fun starter project to me.

	Thanks, Joel

--
http://wagerlabs.com/

Re: [Caml-list] Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

[David MENTRE]

Hello,

2006/8/1, Joel Reymont <joelr1@gmail.com>:
> What are good OCaml resources for an aspiring compiler or interpreter
> writer? I already know about the "One-day Compiler" presentation.

Could you give a pointer to those slides?

> I would like to write a translator from a proprietary trading
> language that's very Pascal-like (EasyLanguage for Omega
> TradeStation). This seems like a fun starter project to me.

In the original Caml book ("Le Langage Caml",
http://caml.inria.fr/pub/old_caml_site/books-eng.html#camlprimer) in
French, you have a description of a short Pascal-like compiler, as
well as a description of a basic Caml type inference system.
Unfortunately, this book is hard to find.

You'll find some interesting information on MinCaml web site and code:
  http://min-caml.sourceforge.net/index-e.html

BTW, I'm also interested in information for wanabee compiler writer.

Best wishes,
d.

Re: [Caml-list] Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

[Jean-Marie Gaillourdet]

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Hello,

I am not sure what kind of information you are interested in. Do you  
know: Andrew W. Appel: "Modern Compiler Implementation in ML" ? It  
covers SML and not Caml or OCaml but I'd say most concepts should be  
translated easily.

Best Regards,
  Jean-Marie

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Re: [Caml-list] Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

[David MENTRE]

Hello,

2006/8/1, Jean-Marie Gaillourdet <jm@gaillourdet.net>:
> I am not sure what kind of information you are interested in. Do you
> know: Andrew W. Appel: "Modern Compiler Implementation in ML" ? It
> covers SML and not Caml or OCaml but I'd say most concepts should be
> translated easily.

Yes, I have a copy of it. But I'm also interested in small compilers
(even with reduced capabilities) like MinCaml that are easier to
understand for a beginner, as well as ML specific items like type
inference, pattern matching, garbage collection, ... That's probably
the most difficult on the compilation topic: there is a lot of books,
articles, etc. but it is sometimes hard for a beginner to determine
the minimal set of knowledge needed to start and the improved
algorithms that can be learned later. For a hobby compiler, one not
necessarily looks for the most efficient algorithms but simpler ones
that are easier to grasp.

Best wishes,
d.

Re: [Caml-list] Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

[Nicolas Cannasse]

> Yes, I have a copy of it. But I'm also interested in small compilers
> (even with reduced capabilities) like MinCaml that are easier to
> understand for a beginner, as well as ML specific items like type
> inference, pattern matching, garbage collection, ...

You can have a look at the Neko and NekoML compilers
(http://nekovm.org). Both are written in NekoML which is similar to
OCaml in many points.

Nicolas

Re: [Caml-list] Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

[William D. Neumann]

On Tue, 1 Aug 2006, David MENTRE wrote:

> Yes, I have a copy of it. But I'm also interested in small compilers
> (even with reduced capabilities) like MinCaml that are easier to
> understand for a beginner, as well as ML specific items like type
> inference, pattern matching, garbage collection, ...

While not so much about compilers directly, an excellent resource is 
Benjamin Pierce's Types and Programming Languages, which includes 
implementations of a number of different type systems in OCaml.

William D. Neumann

---

"There's just so many extra children, we could just feed the
children to these tigers.  We don't need them, we're not doing 
anything with them.

Tigers are noble and sleek; children are loud and messy."

         -- Neko Case

Life is unfair.  Kill yourself or get over it.
 	-- Black Box Recorder

Re: [Caml-list] Resources for compiler/interpreter writers

[Florian Hars]

David MENTRE wrote:
>> I already know about the "One-day Compiler" presentation.
> 
> Could you give a pointer to those slides?

http://www.venge.net/graydon/talks/mkc/html/mgp00001.html