Re: Compiler Construction - New to it and getting started.

"Nate the Capricious" <NatLWalker@gmail.com> writes:


> I want to start doing some research on compiler construction and was
> wondering what programming language you guys use or would like to use
> to implement a compiler. I know a bit of C/C++ and 'a little' Pascal
> but was reading and it seems Modula-2 and Objective CaML get alot of
> thumbs up in this department.


Of the languages you mention, I would definitely go with O'CaML. The
reasons are:


  - The datatypes in O'CaML are almost ideal for representing syntax
      trees: You get pattern matching, simple building of trees, GC, etc.


  - The fact that datastructures are by default persistent makes symbol
      tables easy to handle. And you can use references to make
      non-persistent data structures when you need them.


  - Higher-order functions makes inherited attributes easy.


In general, you will get a much more compact and easily maintainable
compiler using O'CaML than you would with, say, C or C++. And that is
very useful if you want to experiment with variants of the compiler.


                Torben

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