Re: Need an interesting topic for an undergraduate project on Compilers

jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) writes:


> Volker Birk <bumens@dingens.org> writes:
>>If you want to compile a programming language to assembler code
>
> I'm not sure why anyone would want to do this; if you have another
> language you can convert it to C code, and concentrate on what you are
> doing. If you find that the C->assembly step can be improved that is
> also useful.


C is not always well suited as a target language for a compiler (even
though it is often used for this purpose). For example:


  - Standard C does not support indirect jumps.


  - Few C compilers support tail-call optimisation.


  - C does not support multiple return values from a function call.


  - Exceptions are not supported and are difficult to implement
      efficiently and portably.


  - Finding the root set for tracing garbage collectors is not easy.


  - Multi-word integer arithmetic is not supported, even though hardware
      often does.


  - A lot of C behaviour is defined as implementation dependent, so you
      can not be sure your code works the same on all machines/compilers.


So there can be plenty of reasons to compile all the way to assembly
code. Or use something like LLVM as target.


Torben

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