compiler construction chat

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 11:00 pm

Thanks again Enrico

With experts guidance like you ppl I got the courage to work on my goal

Lets see where I do stand say a month down the lane

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 11:29 pm

I forgot the must have the dragon book
both the first edition
www.amazon.com/Compilers-Principles-Techniques-Alfred-Aho/dp/0201100886
and the second one
www.amazon.com/Compilers-Principles-Techniques-Tools-2nd/dp/0321486811/ref=pd_sim_b7

let me know if You need more hints and suggestions

another very interesting article with a completely different approach
is Jack Crenshaw' s Let' s build a compiler, with a PASCAL working sample
it was available until a few months ago at compilers.iecc.com/crenshaw/
but the IECC idiots deleted every trace of it

if You want to get started on serious programming just drop the windows bullshit and install a good linux distro
the canditates are
ubuntu, probably the most friendly , You will have to add ( IIRC ) the development tools
debian, I had lots of issues with it and after a couple of attempt I dropped it
fedora, ( the one I feel most comfortable with ) when doing the almost-quick install it asks what overall environment You want
and choosing the software development environment it will install all You need

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 11:32 pm

Now I am lost

Sorry Enrico

Which should I start of with Assuming I have basic idea of C language?

If you could tell me the order to read or should I do parallel reads?

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:01 am

Thanks So I just wanna confirm

1.Install Linux

I have never installed an OS so fst I will try to acheieve step 1 and contact you

2.Read the Dragon book to know how to build a compiler and the LEX and YACC

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:13 am

OK... Linux first
to get the hand of it You might try a live cd distribution..
boot from a cd and use it for a while before installing it
IIRC look into UBUNTU it has some magic to install it under windows

do not bother yet with the dragon books,
they are terrific from a theorethical point of view, but You might loose the initial sprint if You start with them
they are not cheap also

I would start with the old lex and yacc downloading the sources of the examples from the o' reilly site here
shop.oreilly.com/product/9781565920002.do
and click on the Download Example Code
it will keep You busy for a while
after You have mastered the examples You will be ready for the next step

also googling for scanners parsers compiler construction will provide lot of reading material

here a good link for some theory
www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/ansatte/torbenm/Basics/

another one with code
www.personal.kent.edu/~rmuhamma/Compilers/compiler.html

the more You search the more You find

anyway it is a pity that quite a few good links have disappeared ( the targets )

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:29 am

I have googled and got the Crenshaw tutrial ==> Lets build a compile

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:37 am

which one!
the fouled up and almost unreadable I guess...
home.iae.nl/users/mhx/crenshaw/tiny.html

I wan' t able to find the original which described building step by step a tiny compiler using pascal
I remember downloading it a couple of years ago, but now has disappeared
found it again,

www.penguin.cz/~radek/book/lets_build_a_compiler.pdf
the original was in text format, so a cut and paste was enough to build and run the examples

here is another good one
foja.dcs.fmph.uniba.sk/kompilatory/docs/compiler.pdf

but probably it might be better to take the conversation somewhere else
Ill ' check which part of the forum might be the less disturbing for those not interested

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:39 am

Exactly :-) I got the fedora downloaded and its in iso format guess that a sort of cd kind

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:50 am

why not take a look here
www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/windows-installer

it might be interesting to run it alongside windows
( if You are windows based and You do not want to clobber Your setup)

You might try to install fedora with a dual boot, but You will have to repartition Your disk
and doing it for the first time might lead to a disaster

I am running under VMware, but You have to pay for it
or You might download the VMware trial edition and test i for 1 month
and then decide

You might have issues if You are on win/XP 32 bits only 3GB of storage
but still Linux is not hungry for storage 1gb of virtualized storage is more than enough

on a 64bit system with more memory VMWARE is the most practical solution
both system running at the same time

after the Linux installation I recommend the installation of OOREXX

if You have a PC with a bit of horsepower You might get a heck of performance out of it

on my iMac quad core 16 GB I run mac osx Lion 2 linuxes and 1 MVS

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:05 am

what system are You running on Your PC,
and what is Your PC configuration

as far as ubuntu is concerned they suggest to install the 32 bit version

an I would suggest the definitely more stable 10.4 LTS ( long term support )

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:16 am

I got a hp laptop running on 64 bit windoes 7 and 4gb ram and 320 gb hd

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:27 am

Will that suffice for heavy duty ?

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:29 am

I would definitely give a try to VMware !

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:41 am

sure enrico will do those home work and get back to you

Thanks for your unconditional support wish I treat you with lasangne (hope i spelled it right)

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:44 am

almost right... the correct spelling is lasagne

anyway I am not a fanatic food nationalist ...
( too many italians traveling, asking for spaghetti and complaining that they did not taste good )
whenever I travel I try to understand and appreciate the local food..
a few years ago when I went to Nepal for a climbing expedition I really enjoyed the Nepalese cuisine and the cheerfulness of the people

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:18 am

There is one Italian restaurant here i would die for its cuisine it may not be the taste as they do in Italy but my mind is registered to its taste

My charger got spoofed

I gotto get a new one today when market is up

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:26 pm

Sending the first message from Ubuntu

Its so coool!!!

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:37 pm

glad You made it

Pandora-Box · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:47 pm

So now how to write some simple Pascal codes here??

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:19 am

You will have to install pascal first,
You have two choices

gnu pascal at

Pandora-Box · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:31 am

I am in UBUNTU which option to be chosen for ubuntu on windows ??

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:08 am

when You are under linux(ubuntu) windows is out of the show
everything You need will be the linux stuff

Pandora-Box · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:09 am

Wrote a first program in pascal

Such a moment

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:42 pm

just disregard the ANTLR stuff

and here is a link with links to lots of interesting stuff
catalog.compilertools.net/