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Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers.

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Imagine you don't know anything about programming, and you want learn how to do it. You take a look at Amazon.com, and there's a highly recommended set of books by Knute or something with a promising title, The Art of Computer Programming, so you buy them. Now imagine that it's more than just a poor choice, but that all the books on programming are at written at that level. That's the situation with books about writing compilers. It's not that they're bad books, they're just too broadly scoped, and the authors present so much information that it's hard to know where to begin. Some books are better than others, but there are still the thick chapters about converting regular expressions into executable state machines and different types of grammars and so on. After slogging through it all you will have undoubtedly expanded your knowledge, but you're no closer to actually writing a working compiler. Not surprisingly, the opaqueness of these books has led to the myth that compilers are har

Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers. programming in the twenty-first century It's not about technology for its own sake. It's about being able to implement your ideas. Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers. Imagine you don't know anything about programming, and you want learn how to do it. You take a look at Amazon.com, and there's a highly recommended set of books by Knute or something with a promising title, The Art of Computer Programming , so you buy them. Now imagine that it's more than just a poor choice, but that all the books on programming are at writte

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