Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language?

Eliot Miranda <eliotm@pacbell.net>
12 Jan 2003 18:01:47 -0500

          From comp.compilers
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[2 earlier articles]
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? bonzini@gnu.org (2003-01-07)
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? strohm@airmail.net (John R. Strohm) (2003-01-07)
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? alexc@world.std.com (2003-01-07)
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? journeyman@compilerguru.com (2003-01-07)
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? vmakarov@redhat.com (Vladimir Makarov) (2003-01-12)
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? ajo@andrew.cmu.edu (Arthur J. O'Dwyer) (2003-01-12)
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? eliotm@pacbell.net (Eliot Miranda) (2003-01-12)
Accent compiler compiler? hugo-rozas@iespana.es (Hugo Rozas) (2003-01-17)
Re: Accent compiler compiler? glouis@univ-lr.fr (Georges LOUIS) (2003-01-21)
Re: What is the Simplest Programming Language? ed_davis2@yahoo.com (2003-01-21)
Re: Accent compiler compiler? hat@se-46.wpa.wtb.tue.nl (Albert Hofkamp) (2003-01-21)
Re: Accent compiler compiler? clint@0lsen.net (Clint Olsen) (2003-01-25)
| List of all articles for this month |
From: Eliot Miranda <eliotm@pacbell.net>
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Date: 12 Jan 2003 18:01:47 -0500
Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com
References: 03-01-013 03-01-027
Keywords: practice
Posted-Date: 12 Jan 2003 18:01:47 EST

Paolo Bonzini wrote:
> > Other than Smalltalk, Lisp, Forth and ahem Intercal what is the most
> > simple programming language to create a ((relatively) useful) compiler
> > for?
>
> Probably Forth, as Smalltalk and Lisp rely on a mildly complex
> run-time environment (with a GC, at least, and with a class library in
> the case of Smalltalk). I'd estimate 2000 lines for Forth, 4000 for
> Lisp (of course that's not Common Lisp!), and at least 30000 for
> Smalltalk and Common Lisp.


VisualWorks' compiler is around 9,000 lines of Smalltalk. The VM is
much more, but a VM for the core language with usable performance (e.g.
translation to direct threaded code) can easily be written in 15,000
lines of C.
--
_______________,,,^..^,,,____________________________
Eliot Miranda Smalltalk - Scene not herd


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