Compiler Design Notes
Unit 1: Introduction to Compiling
- Definition: Compilation is the process of translating a source program written in a high-level
language into machine code.
- Analysis of the Source Program: Includes lexical, syntax, and semantic analysis to understand the
structure and meaning.
- Phases of a Compiler: Lexical Analysis, Syntax Analysis, Semantic Analysis, Intermediate Code
Generation, Code Optimization, Code Generation.
- Grouping of Phases: Analysis (front-end) and Synthesis (back-end).
- Compiler Construction Tools: Lexical analyzer generators (Lex), parser generators (Yacc),
syntax-directed translation engines, etc.
- A Simple One-Pass Compiler: Processes source code in a single pass using a linear pipeline of
phases.
Unit 2: Lexical Analysis
- Role of the Lexical Analyzer: Scans the input source code and produces tokens.
- Input Buffering: Efficient reading of input characters using buffers.
- Specification of Tokens: Tokens are defined using regular expressions.
- Language for Specifying Lexical Analyzers: Regular expressions and finite automata.
- Design of a Lexical Analyzer Generator: Tools like Lex or Flex are used to automate the creation.
Unit 3: Syntax Analysis
- Role of the Parser: Converts tokens into a parse tree using grammar rules.
- Context-Free Grammars: Formal grammars used to define programming language syntax.
- Writing a Grammar: Defining rules for language constructs.
- Top-Down Parsing: Starts from the root and works down (e.g., Recursive Descent).
- Bottom-Up Parsing: Starts from the leaves and works up (e.g., Shift-Reduce Parsing).
- Operator-Precedence Parsing: A type of bottom-up parsing for expressions.
- LR Parsers: Powerful bottom-up parsers that can handle a wide class of grammars.
- Using Ambiguous Grammars: Sometimes allowed for simplicity; requires disambiguation
strategies.
- Parser Generators: Tools like Yacc/Bison generate parsers from grammar rules.
Unit 4: Syntax-Directed Translation
- Definitions: Involves attaching semantic rules to grammar rules.
- Construction of Syntax Trees: Trees that represent syntactic structure with semantic actions.
- Bottom-Up Evaluation of S-Attributed Definitions: Attributes are computed in bottom-up order.
- Top-Down Translation: Attributes evaluated in top-down order.
- Bottom-Up Evaluation of Inherited Attributes: Used in more complex attribute grammars.
- Intermediate Languages: Representations like Three-Address Code, Syntax Trees, etc.
- Declarations, Assignment Statements, Boolean Expressions, Case Statements: Translation
involves handling different language constructs.
- Backpatching: Technique for handling forward jumps in code generation.
- Procedure Calls: Managing call and return sequences and parameter passing.
Unit 5: Code Generation
- Issues in the Design of a Code Generator: Includes instruction selection, register allocation, etc.
- The Target Machine: Characteristics of the machine for which code is generated.
- Run-Time Storage Management: Managing memory during program execution.
- Basic Blocks and Flow Graphs: Blocks of code with a single entry and exit point.
- Next-Use Information: Used for register allocation.
- Simple Code Generator: A basic implementation that translates IR to assembly.
- Register Allocation and Assignment: Mapping variables to registers efficiently.
- DAG Representation of Basic Blocks: Helps eliminate common sub-expressions.
- Generating Code from DAGs: Optimal code generation from the DAG structure.
- Dynamic Programming: Used for optimal instruction selection.
- Code-Generation Algorithm: Combines all aspects to produce final machine code.
- Code-Generators: Tools that automate code generation from intermediate representation.
