Writing Compilers and Interpreters: An Applied Approach

by Ronald Mak

Book Overview

A practical guide to writing interpreters and compilers. Shows how to write a series of useful utilities, including an interactive debugging interpreter and a working compiler, in a top-down, incremental fashion. Hands-on approach encourages experimentation with these programs on a personal computer. Presentation is independent of operating system and compiler writing system. All the programs are written in the C language. Includes exercises.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 047150968X
• ISBN13: 9780471509684
• Release Date: February 1991
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 516 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent practical introduction to the subject

This text fully accomplishes its goal of providing a simpleand practical introduction to this subject. Students and self-taught programmers having difficulty understanding compiler theory from texts like the "dragon book" will find this book very useful in getting started. Working thru all the well written C++ code also provides excerise in polishing your C++ programming skills, beyond the first class introducing C++. Though there is a lot of code, I feel there is significant "added value" in the presentation of code segments and textual descriptions which helps novices grasp implementation of the concepts being discussed. As every author knows, books like all other projects can be refined further. One enhancement to this book is that every chapter should include a (small) section dedicated discussing the theoretical concepts without any reference to the code. Alternative approaches and advanced concepts could be mentioned here with a word about using simple techniques to stay in line with the goal of the book.

Excellent Treatment of a Tough Subject

I bought this book in 1996 when I was a CS graduate student. The course text was the traditional "dragon book" which is a complete nigthmare to understand. I read this book in hopes of better understanding how compilers and interpreters are implemented and to this day I feel like I hit the jackpot.The book focuses primarily on the practical implementation of language interpreters and compilers and includes the code (C++) for a full featured Pascal interpreter (not just a minimal implementation that interprets a few statements). The author walks the reader through each class virtually line by line and presents the material in a way that any intermediate level C++ developer can easily understand.Notwithstanding the pragmatic focus of this book, it also provides excellent treatment of the theory of compiler design. While it is at least 5 years old, I still keep this book in my library.

Interpreters and compilers bite the dust

I used to think you had to be some kind of super human being to write a compiler.Guess what? I was wrong. If you buy this book and you have good c++ programming skills as well as knowledge of data structures(lists,trees etc) you are well on your way.Ronald is the man!He breaks the code down into small objects and shows all the code with great insight into what the code is doing. Man, this is how to write a book on such a complex topic. Ronald really shows the benefits of OOP.Now I feel very confident to take on any programming project. I have over come my fears. I can now get more advanced books on the subject.

A fine book on compiler construction using C++.

This book gives a very detailed discussion of how to write a compiler using C++. As such it could function as a supplementary textbook for a course in compilers or as one for an advanced course in C++. The author describes in detail every step of the way, and it makes interesting and fun reading. Buy it: it is well worth the price.

A good introduction to compiler basics

This book delivers exactly what it promises--a complete step-by-step example of writing 'a compiler'. The book is simply a description of one way to build one compiler (and interpreter, and debugger, and various useful utilities). The basics are well presented. First a topic is described, then source code is presented and explained. The results of test runs are shown, and then off to the next topic. Advanced topics, such as optimization, are intentially left out. When a person is ready to read a first book about compilers, this is a good one. All source code developed/described in the book is available on-line.