Re: compiler writing as a career?

Brandon J. Van Every wrote:
  > I'd like to ask some career-oriented questions about compiler writing,
  > to see if this is a good direction for me to go in, given my personal
  > sensibilities.
...
  > I have no interest in working on C++, Java, or C# in any capacity,
besides migrating away from them.


Unlike Brandon, I'm interested in compiler career opportunities of all
kinds.


But I've long wondered what happens to a compiler writer *after* the
compiler is built? Clearly a great deal of work goes into creating or
even porting a compiler, perhaps requiring several folks to build the
tool in a reasonable amount of time. But once the tool is
serviceable, what becomes of its creators? Do they usually move
straight into maintenance of the tool, or start building another
compiler for the same firm, or do they have to change jobs yet again?


I'm sure that if you work for one of the handful of compiler vendors out
there, you can afford to buy a house and settle down. But if most
compiler work is in supporting new processors or embedded hardware, it
seems to me that few of those employers would be inclined to keep on a
permanent compiler guy/gal after the compiler for the system is done.
So most compiler work sounds like it's transient.


Is that so? Are compiler builders inevitably high-tech nomads?


          Randy
--
Randy Crawford rand AT rice DOT edu http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~rand

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