Quick Book Review: Engineering A Compiler / Keith Cooper & Linda Torczon

Review
------


Engineering A Compiler, by Keith Cooper & Linda Torczon


What it covers:


The book covers all phases of compilation, and does it well, but the
major focus is on optimization.


The early chapters deal with lexing, parsing, syntax analysis and
intermediate representations. The second half of the book covers
optimization and code generation, including data-flow analysis,
instruction selection, scheduling, and register allocation. The
bibliography is extensive.


What I like about the book:


Three things stand out. First, all the algorithms are consistent with
the latest research. Second, the explanations are exceptionally
clear, especially compared to other recent books. Third, there's
always enough extra context presented so that you understand the
choices you have to make, and understand how those choices fit with
the structure of your whole compiler.


One quibble:


There are too many typos. Most of the obvious errors are in the
diagrams; it seems like they proofread the text, but forgot the
diagrams. I hope they fix that before they do another print run.


Overall:


A great book. For me, this is the best compiler book I've seen in years.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
= Jeff Kenton Consulting and software development =
= http://home.comcast.net/~jeffrey.kenton =
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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