Engineering a simple, efficient code-generator generator

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Engineering a simple, efficient code-generator generator

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ACM Letters on Programming Languages and Systems (LOPLAS) archive
Volume 1 , Issue 3 (September 1992) table of contents

Pages: 213 - 226

Year of Publication: 1992

ISSN:1057-4514

Authors

Christopher W. Fraser	AT & T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ
David R. Hanson	Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ
Todd A. Proebsting	Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

Publisher

ACM New York, NY, USA

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Downloads (6 Weeks): 12, Downloads (12 Months): 128, Citation Count: 50

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ABSTRACT

Many code-generator generators use tree pattern matching and dynamic programming. This paper describes a simple program that generates matchers that are fast, compact, and easy to understand. It is simpler than common alternatives: 200–700 lines of Icon or 950 lines of C versus 3000 lines of C for Twig and 5000 for burg. Its matchers run up to 25 times faster than Twig's. They are necessarily slower than burg's BURS (bottom-up rewrite system) matchers, but they are more flexible and still practical.

REFERENCES

Note: OCR errors may be found in this Reference List extracted from the full text article. ACM has opted to expose the complete List rather than only correct and linked references.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
D. Software
D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
D.3.4 Processors
Subjects: Translator writing systems and compiler generators

General Terms:
Languages

Keywords:
Icon programming language, code generation, code-generator generator, dynamic programming, tree pattern matching

REVIEW

"Robert Ballance : Reviewer"

Unlike papers that focus on the theory of pattern matching or its application to code generation, this paper focuses on engineering the pattern matcher. The paper will interest programmers confronted with time or space requirements as well more...

Collaborative Colleagues:

Christopher W. Fraser: colleagues

David R. Hanson: colleagues

Todd A. Proebsting: colleagues

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