Compiler-compiler: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:57, 9 September 2023

Revision as of 15:43, 21 September 2023

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In [[computer science]], a '''compiler-compiler''' or '''compiler generator''' is a programming tool that creates a [[parsing|parser]], [[interpreter (computer software)|interpreter]], or [[compiler]] from some form of formal description of a [[programming language]] and machine.

The most common type of compiler-compiler is more precisely called a '''parser generator'''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70775643 |title=Compilers : principles, techniques, & tools |date=2007 |others=Alfred V. Aho, Monica S. Lam, Ravi Sethi, Jeffrey D. Ullman, Alfred V. Aho |isbn=978-0-321-48681-13 |edition=Second |___location=Boston |page=287 |oclc=70775643}}</ref>'''.''' It only handles syntactic analysis.

The input of a parser generator is a [[formal grammar|grammar]] file, typically written in [[Backus–Naur form]] (BNF) or [[extended Backus–Naur form]] (EBNF) that defines the [[Syntax (programming languages)|syntax]] of a target programming language.

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In 1964, System Development Corporation began a major effort in the development of metacompilers. This effort includes powerful metacompilers, Bookl, and Book2 written in [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] which have extensive tree-searching and backup ability. An outgrowth of one of the [[AN/FSQ-32|Q-32]] systems at SDC is Meta 5.<ref name=Oppenheim/> The Meta 5 system incorporates backup of the input stream and enough other facilities to parse any context-sensitive language. This system was successfully released to a wide number of users and had many string-manipulation applications other than compiling. It has many elaborate push-down stacks, attribute setting and testing facilities, and output mechanisms. That Meta 5 successfully translates [[JOVIAL]] programs to [[PL/I]] programs demonstrates its power and flexibility.

Robert McClure at [[Texas Instruments]] invented a compiler-compiler called [[TMG (language)|TMG]] (presented in 1965). TMG was used to create early compilers for programming languages like [[B (programming language)|B]], [[PL/I]] and [[ALTRAN]]. Together with metacompiler of Val Schorre, it was an early inspiration for the last chapter of [[Donald Knuth]]'s ''[[The Art of Computer Programming]]''.<ref>{{cite journalbook |first=Donald |last=Knuth |title=Attribute Grammars and their Applications |chapter=The Genesisgenesis of Attributeattribute Grammarsgrammars |chapter-url=https://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~sk/cs325/gag.pdf |___location=New York |journal=Proceedings of the International Conference on Attribute Grammars and Their Applications (Paris, France) |volume=461 |pages=1–12 |editor=P. Deransart |editor2=M. Jourdan |publisher=Springer-Verlag |year=1990 |doi=10.1007/3-540-53101-7_1 |isbn=978-3-540-53101-2 |citeseerx=10.1.1.105.5365 |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |access-date=2020-02-06 |archive-date=2020-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123154647/https://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~sk/cs325/gag.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The LOT system was developed during 1966 at Stanford Research Institute and was modeled very closely after Meta II.<ref name="Kirkleyl"/> It had new special-purpose constructs allowing it to generate a compiler which could in turn, compile a subset of PL/I. This system had extensive statistic-gathering facilities and was used to study the characteristics of top-down analysis.