A Compiler Writing Journey

128 points | by ibobev 1 day ago

9 comments

• parallax_error

  1 day ago
  Very cool! I can’t imagine writing everything in C, I’m currently learning this in OCaml which seems nicer for a project like this.
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  • MisterTea

    17 hours ago
    > I can’t imagine writing everything in C

    I will say that C is a perfect low level language for bootstrapping more complex systems and languages. If I were building a bootstrap compiler I would write it in C and have it emit C. Specifically C89/99 ONLY with no POSIX/GNU deps. that will guarantee a large swath of compiler and system support out of the box.

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  • anta40

    23 hours ago
    Perhaps using this: https://github.com/nlsandler/nqcc2

    ?
  • nurettin

    1 day ago
    Wow that's super nostalgic. You're on a great path! After doing something similar, I switched to Haskell. Give it a go if you have the time.
• pjmlp

  1 day ago
  Having it all in C brings back memories from "Compiler Design in C" a famous book for its time, printed in 1990.

  https://holub.com/compiler/

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  • nils-m-holm

    23 hours ago
    I wrote a book in its spirit in 2012 with a second edition in 2022: http://t3x.org/reload/

    It is called Practical Compiler Construction. The Compiler Writing Journey is based on it.

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    • kreco

      21 hours ago
      Thanks for your amazing work!
• mzs

  18 hours ago
  "Part 64: Self-compilation on an 8-bit CPU"

  Unlike how a bunch of projects end right as they start to get good, this has a great ending. Thank you
• cxr

  18 hours ago
  (2020)

  Previously:

  12 comments; 156 points. 2022 November 29. <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33788013>

  67 comments; 484 points. 2020 January 8. <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21968420>
• skyfantom

  19 hours ago
  This hopefully can be useful as well https://space4links.com/r/writing-a-compiler
• Muhammad523

  18 hours ago
  I feel like interpreters and compilers were trendy in 2015/2016, bu i'm too young to know. Am i right?
• maniacsudip

  1 day ago
  [dead]
• maltyxxx

  21 hours ago
  [flagged]
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  • cxr

    18 hours ago
    <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340079>
• brcmthrowaway

  1 day ago
  How much of Claude was used?
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  • Muhammad523

    18 hours ago
    Why must there always be a random guy on HN randomly mentioning Claude?
  • azhenley

    1 day ago
    It was started 7 years ago.