Where to start, if I want to understand how compilers and programming languages ​​are composed

Question

Possible duplicate:
Compiler Writing

I know this is a broad question to ask, but where can I start to learn how compilers work, how programming languages ​​are created, I do not mean how you use Java or Ruby, but how people actually create them . I will not try to reproduce these languages ​​in any way, but I want to understand the concepts and theory behind it. So I need either some directions regarding what I should look for, or even better and more focused on the recommendations of the book.

Hi,

Jonathan Nash.

Answer 1

You can take a look at the Dragon Book :

• Compiled: principles, methods and tools by Aho, Lam, Sethi and Ullman

Answer 2

You can find the Build Compiler by Jack Crenshaw - an interesting introduction.

He was very simple and focused on creating real functionality.

Answer 3

• The "Compiler Constrution" by Niklaus Wirth is pretty good and available for free from the link I provided (yes, legally). It's a bit outdated and uses Oberon for examples, but is easy to follow.

• Create your own programming language from Marc-André Cournoyer, available online for $ 40 and consists of a book (including exercises and solutions), source code for two example languages ​​(one in Ruby and one in Java) and a screencast on JVM language extension. This is probably the most innovative introduction you can find on this topic, and then you should have a pretty good idea of ​​the steps (tokenization, parsing, lexing, etc.) and you can continue your research using the links provided. It's a little expensive, but IMHO it's worth it.

• While not primarily a learning resource, the CoffeeScript website has an “Annotated Source” section that is really useful in seeing how the programming language works. The author of CoffeeScript started working on this after reading a book that I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Answer 4

I really liked the "Language Implementation Patterns" and learned a bunch. I wish I read it before trying to implement DSL a few years ago.