Re: Position of an Intermediate Code Generator

Hello!


Chris Rowland <dirkduck2@hotmail.com> wrote:
>[... question on how to integrate an intermediate code generator
> into a simple compiler ...]


I'd do this:
- Parse the source, building an AST (like) data structure
- here, you can add additional analysis, attaching information to
    the AST (semantic analysis). If you don't need that part in the
    beginning, leave it empty, but you know where to add it later
- Perhaps to AST level optimizations (leave that empty in the beginning),
    modifying the AST.
- Now, in one or more separate passes over the AST, you build the
    first intermediate code (which might happen to be the final code,
    e.g. if you generate stack based virtual machine code from a not
    too complicated source language / AST structure, and use an
    interpreter to execute the virtual machine code).
- Maybe, do optimizations on the IR level, maybe translate the IR
    further into other IRs, and on each level, maybe optimize more.
- "Unparse" the final IR into your translator's output
    (unless you're going to run an interpreter immediately on the
    internal IR data structures).


I.e. in short: Build an AST in your parser, make your IR generator
work on that AST afterwards.


Kind regards,


Hannah.

Return to the comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.