Re: Writing a C/C++ compiler in C++

"Dave Boyle" <david.boyle@ed.tadpole.com> wrote
> Just a word of warning. Walter Bright, who implemented an early C++
> compiler, had this to say in comp.lang.c++.moderated recently:
>
> "I'd venture that it would take 10 years to write a C++ compiler from
> scratch."
>
> He was talking specifically about a fully standard compliant compiler.
>
> This still seems a little excessive to me but I don't have the
> compiler construction experience that Walter has, so...


None of the existing compliant or near compliant C++ compilers are
under 10 years old. Digital Mars C++ is the oldest, containing bits of
compiler code first written in 1982 <g>. Naturally, that time can be
considerably shortened if you can incorporate existing components like
preprocessors, parsers, optimizers, code generators, etc., or if
you're not aiming for commercial quality.


Writing a C++ compiler as a first compiler project is like learning
mountain climbing by attempting Mt. Everest. Writing a compiler first
for a far simpler language, like say Pascal or Javascript, will
provide invaluable experience that should lower the overall time spent
implementing C++. Even implementing a C compiler isn't so easy (it
only looks easy compared with C++).


Anyhow, don't let me discourage you. When I started out, the reaction
from the experts was that I had no chance of ever succeeding at it
<g>.


-Walter
www.digitalmars.com free C/C++/D compilers

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