Compiler-compiler: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:40, 28 September 2023

Revision as of 04:27, 29 September 2023

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==History==

Design of the original Compiler Compiler was started by [[Tony Brooker]] and Derrick Morris in 1959, with initial testing beginning in March 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lavington |first=Simon |date=April 2016 |title=Tony Brooker and the Atlas Compiler Compiler |url=http://curation.cs.manchester.ac.uk/atlas/elearn.cs.man.ac.uk/_atlas/docs/Tony%20Brooker%20and%20the%20Atlas%20Compiler%20Compiler.pdf {{bare URL|url-status=live PDF|access-date=April 2023-09-29 |format=PDF}}</ref> Brooker's Compiler Compiler was used to create compilers for the new [[Atlas (computer)|Atlas]] computer at the [[University of Manchester]], for several languages: [[Mercury Autocode]], Extended Mercury Autocode, [[Atlas Autocode]], [[ALGOL 60]] and ASA [[Fortran]]. At roughly the same time, related work was being done by E. T. (Ned) Irons at Princeton, and Alick Glennie at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston whose "Syntax Machine" paper (declassified in 1977) inspired the META series of translator writing systems mentioned below.

The early history of metacompilers is closely tied with the history of SIG/PLAN Working group 1 on Syntax Driven Compilers. The group was started primarily through the effort of Howard Metcalfe in the Los Angeles area.<ref name="Metcalfe1"/> In the fall of 1962, Howard Metcalfe designed two compiler-writing interpreters. One used a bottom-to-top analysis technique based on a method described by Ledley and Wilson.<ref name="Ledleyl"/> The other used a top-to-bottom approach based on work by Glennie to generate random English sentences from a context-free grammar.<ref name="Glenniel"/>