4 ms·

But how was the first compiler bootstrapped? Serious question (how can a compiler of X language be written in X?)

by fb03 8y ago

coliveira 8y ago
They wrote in another language. I think the bootstrap C compiler was written in BCPL.
- zadler 8y ago
  Thsts awesome. Id love to see a lineage tree of early language development.
- pieterr 8y ago
  More info can be found here (straight from the source...) https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/chist.html https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/chist.html https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/primevalC.html https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/primevalC.html
- garmaine 8y ago
  And, for example, C++ was originally a C program that transpiled C++ -> C.
  - sigjuice 8y ago
    No, it wasn’t. “Transpile” is not a real word. There is no need to desecrate the first ever C++ compiler.
    - garmaine 8y ago
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-to-source_compiler https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-to-source_compiler https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cfront https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cfront
      - sigjuice 8y ago
        “Source-to-source” is redundant. You can just shorten this to “compiler”.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
        pawelmurias 8y ago
        It's not redundant. A "source-to-source" compiler isn't a "source-to-machine code" compiler
        sigjuice 8y ago
        It is redundant. See page 1 of most compiler books. Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools Simply stated, a compiler is a program that can read a program in one language - the source language - and translate it into an equivalent program in another language - the target language Engineering a Compiler Compilers are computer programs that translate a program written in one language into a program written in another language
    - chrisseaton 8y ago
      The word ‘transpiler’ has been used in academic literature since at least the late 60s.
      - sigjuice 8y ago
        It has been (mis)used in a very tiny amount of academic literature. It obviously did not catch on for what one might only hope were good reasons. There is no good reason to promote this now.

But how was the first compiler bootstrapped? Serious question (how can a compiler of X language be written in X?)

by fb03 8y ago

But how was the first compiler bootstrapped? Serious question (how can a compiler of X language be written in X?)

coliveira 8y ago

They wrote in another language. I think the bootstrap C compiler was written in BCPL.

zadler 8y ago
Thsts awesome. Id love to see a lineage tree of early language development.
pieterr 8y ago
More info can be found here (straight from the source...) https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/chist.html https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/chist.html https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/primevalC.html https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/primevalC.html
garmaine 8y ago
And, for example, C++ was originally a C program that transpiled C++ -> C.
- sigjuice 8y ago
  No, it wasn’t. “Transpile” is not a real word. There is no need to desecrate the first ever C++ compiler.
  - garmaine 8y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-to-source_compiler https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-to-source_compiler https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cfront https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cfront
    - sigjuice 8y ago
      “Source-to-source” is redundant. You can just shorten this to “compiler”.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - pawelmurias 8y ago
        It's not redundant. A "source-to-source" compiler isn't a "source-to-machine code" compiler
        sigjuice 8y ago
        It is redundant. See page 1 of most compiler books. Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools Simply stated, a compiler is a program that can read a program in one language - the source language - and translate it into an equivalent program in another language - the target language Engineering a Compiler Compilers are computer programs that translate a program written in one language into a program written in another language
  - chrisseaton 8y ago
    The word ‘transpiler’ has been used in academic literature since at least the late 60s.
    - sigjuice 8y ago
      It has been (mis)used in a very tiny amount of academic literature. It obviously did not catch on for what one might only hope were good reasons. There is no good reason to promote this now.