7 ms·

His _Compiler Construction_ book (http://www-old.oberon.ethz.ch/WirthPubl/CBEAll.pdf http://www-old.oberon.ethz.ch/WirthPubl/CBEAll.pdf) is a good "keep it simp

His _Compiler Construction_ book (http://www-old.oberon.ethz.ch/WirthPubl/CBEAll.pdf http://www-old.oberon.ethz.ch/WirthPubl/CBEAll.pdf) is a good "keep it simple, hit the ground running" intro to recursive-descent parsing, compilers, virtual machines, etc., as well.

ronnier 16y ago
Is this a book you'd recommend for somebody wanting to learn compilers and parsers? I did my masters in computer science but focused on the machine learning, AI, and data mining side of things. I feel that I'm lacking a lot from never taking a compliers class and would like to make up for that with a good book. (I did study automata theory).
- silentbicycle 16y ago
  Yes, among others. Briefly: Read that, then Appel's _Modern Compiler Implementation in ML_, then chase whatever interests you in the bibliography and on citeseer. See also: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1822515 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1822515 (first) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1820858 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1820858 (parsing) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1608752 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1608752 (good thread) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642345 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642345 (another good thread) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=835020 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=835020 (lots of good resounces!) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=704957 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=704957 (yet another good thread) That should keep you busy for a while. :)
  - ronnier 16y ago
    Thanks for taking the time to compile this list for me.
- jules 16y ago
  The best way to learn is probably to start writing a simple compiler. For example write a compiler for finite automata to C (or assembly if you want a bigger challenge), since you studied automata theory.
- sedachv 16y ago
  Read Abdulaziz Ghuloum's An Incremental Approach to Compiler Construction: http://scheme2006.cs.uchicago.edu/11-ghuloum.pdf http://scheme2006.cs.uchicago.edu/11-ghuloum.pdf It basically explains everything in 10 pages. Quite an amazing paper.

ronnier 16y ago

Is this a book you'd recommend for somebody wanting to learn compilers and parsers? I did my masters in computer science but focused on the machine learning, AI, and data mining side of things. I feel that I'm lacking a lot from never taking a compliers class and would like to make up for that with a good book. (I did study automata theory).

silentbicycle 16y ago
Yes, among others. Briefly: Read that, then Appel's _Modern Compiler Implementation in ML_, then chase whatever interests you in the bibliography and on citeseer. See also: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1822515 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1822515 (first) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1820858 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1820858 (parsing) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1608752 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1608752 (good thread) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642345 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642345 (another good thread) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=835020 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=835020 (lots of good resounces!) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=704957 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=704957 (yet another good thread) That should keep you busy for a while. :)
- ronnier 16y ago
  Thanks for taking the time to compile this list for me.
jules 16y ago
The best way to learn is probably to start writing a simple compiler. For example write a compiler for finite automata to C (or assembly if you want a bigger challenge), since you studied automata theory.
sedachv 16y ago
Read Abdulaziz Ghuloum's An Incremental Approach to Compiler Construction: http://scheme2006.cs.uchicago.edu/11-ghuloum.pdf http://scheme2006.cs.uchicago.edu/11-ghuloum.pdf It basically explains everything in 10 pages. Quite an amazing paper.