Re: Choosing a language for compiler design

pjmlp@students.si.fct.unl.pt (Paulo Jose Matos Lopes Pinto - Aluno
Eng. Informatica) writes:


> Now that I have an Yacc/Lex files for Oberon, I face the problem of
> choosing a language for its implementation.
> I have versions of Yacc/Lex for C, C++, Turbo Pascal and Ada.


... and byacc can output Perl too.


I'm nearing the end of a compiler project using Perl 5 (and flex and
byacc). I suggest you add Perl 5 to your list of candidates:


  -- Perl :
    For:
        Automatic storage management; safe pointers
        Good data structure support: lists, strings, hash tables (ie
                symbol tables) and objects (with inheritance).
        Modular.
        Quick development cycle.


    Against:
        You have to code (run-time) type checking yourself.
        Fair stability: in round figures, I find one bug in perl per 10000 SLOC.
        Compilation-time penalty every time you run your program.
        Execution slower than fully-compiled code.


In our project, short development time was the highest priority, and I
have no regrets about choosing Perl 5.


Tim
--
Tim Wilson, Simoco Telecommunications Ltd, Cambridge, UK
--

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