why did you chose compiler development?

I just quit my current job to take my first compiler development
position. In doing so, lots of people have asked me why I want to get
into compiler development and it has made me think about it. I have
my standard reasons (listed below), but I wonder what makes you enjoy
this area?


My reasons:


1) It was the most interesting (and challenging) part of my undergrad
work. I'll never forget the prof I had -- he influenced my career
substantially.


2) It is the very essence of programming. The better you understand
how language recognition and translation works, the better your coding
and debugging skills become.


3) It is the very picture of module coupling and cohesion. Breaking
down the process into front/middle/back ends and making each one
independent of each other is a textbook case that predates the ideas
from structured design.


4) It has a rich history and some of the most famous computer
scientists (ie Knuth, Grace Hopper, Turing) have made significant
contributions.


5) It spans lots of fundamental CS areas, including data structures,
computability and complexity theory, hardware, algorithms, and
discrete mathematics.


6) There are wide and deep mainstream applications. Aside from the
obvious language compilers, there are macro interpreters, SQL,
conversion utilities, configuration files, digital design...
--
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/* Andrew */
WWW: http://www.halcyon.com/ast
Email: ast@halcyon.com






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