Re: Writing Compilers in Functional Languages

Kkaa wrote:
>
> I've written a few compilers and interpreters in procedural and
> object-oriented languages (in particular Java, C, C++, and C#), and
> these seem to be popular choices, but I would like to write my next
> one in a functional language. Every compiler text I've read assumes
> that you are writing your compiler in a procedural or OO language.
> Are there any books or online resources that instead focus on using
> functional languages as implementation languages? I'm considering
> using Haskell or Scheme, but I'm hoping that the resources won't
> assume a particular functional langauge.


Try Andrew Appel's _Modern Compiler Implementation in ML_. It uses
Standard ML, but translating to Haskell should be fairly straight
forward.


Incidentally, if you haven't written a compiler or interpreter in a
modern functional language before, you're in for a treat -- algebraic
types and pattern matching, in particular, make it dramatically easier
to write a compiler in an FPL than in a traditional language.


--
Neel Krishnaswami
neelk@cs.cmu.edu

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