Re: Compiler project needed

Per Olesen <pel@realtime.dk> writes:


>I'm studying computer science on a Danish university and I'm going to
>write a compiler as a project in a course I'm taking.


You don't mention the size of the project you want to do. Writing a
full Java compiler is a fairly sizeable task, and probably not
something you would do as part of a course, so I assume somewhat
smaller projects than that.


You also dont mention if you want to concentrate on front-end issues
(parsing, type inference, intermediate-code generation) or back-end
issues (optimisation, code-generation, scheduling, register
allocation).


Anyway, here are a few suggestions:


Mostly front-end: Part of the success of Java is the C-like syntax.
Design a C-like syntax for SML and write a tool that converts this
into "real" SML and translates error messages from the SML compiler
into terms that relate to the C-like program.


Also mostly front-end. There are variants of ASP (active server pages)
for many languages, including Java and SML. Choose a language that
does not currently have an ASP-like variant and make one.


Mostly back-end: Make a compiler (for a small language) that generates
efficient code for an 8-bit processor (e.g. 6502 or Z80). Note that
this may require different strategies for register allocation and
parameter passing than the standard compiler textbooks show.


Also mostly back-end: Make two compilers: One that compiles
stack-based code into register-based code and one that goes the other
way. Make them such that using these to compile from stack to register
and back again (or vice-versa) loses as little as possible in
efficiency.


Torben Mogensen (torbenm@diku.dk)

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