Re: Teaching compilers backwards?

rmatthewk@hotmail.com (Matthew K.)
8 Oct 2003 22:26:07 -0400

          From comp.compilers
Related articles
Teaching compilers backwards? andy@galois.com (Andy Gill) (2003-09-23)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? Trevor.Jenkins@suneidesis.com (2003-09-27)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? rbates@southwind.net (Rodney M. Bates) (2003-10-04)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? hat@se-126.se.wtb.tue.nl (Albert Hofkamp) (2003-10-08)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? rmatthewk@hotmail.com (2003-10-08)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? joachim.durchholz@web.de (Joachim Durchholz) (2003-10-12)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? peter_flass@yahoo.com (Peter Flass) (2003-10-13)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? Brian.Inglis@SystematicSw.ab.ca (Brian Inglis) (2003-10-13)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? michael.l.ross@intel.com (Michael Ross) (2004-03-11)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? rand@rice.edu (Randy Crawford) (2004-03-15)
Re: Teaching compilers backwards? zork_666@nospammail.net (Johnathan) (2004-03-15)
[10 later articles]
| List of all articles for this month |
From: rmatthewk@hotmail.com (Matthew K.)
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Date: 8 Oct 2003 22:26:07 -0400
Organization: http://groups.google.com
References: 03-09-073 03-10-014
Keywords: courses
Posted-Date: 08 Oct 2003 22:26:06 EDT

It seems like it would be a good idea to me. I recently just started
learning about compilers, and I did not see a connection between
lexical scanning and code generation. If you teach the students to
read in input and translate it in the same pass, then they might
better see this connection.


"Rodney M. Bates" <rbates@southwind.net> wrote
> Well, it seems like one obvious problem with this is that each
> phase uses as input, the output of the previous phase. And what
> that output is, both its format/syntax, and its deeper semantics, are
> things a compiler course student won't already know. And explaining
> that will considerably overlap just studying the previous phase.
>
> Andy Gill wrote:
> > Has anyone ever taught compilers backwards? How did it work out?
> >
> > Traditionally, a compiler class starts with lexing, and flows downstream
> > towards register allocation and assembly language generation.
> >
> > I am considering starting a compiler class with assembly language exercises,
> > and having the students build a small compiler from the back, forward.


Post a followup to this message

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