I'm not sure about reading the books in sequence (I haven't tried it), and after a short period you'll probably find yourself referring to the papers they refer

I'm not sure about reading the books in sequence (I haven't tried it), and after a short period you'll probably find yourself referring to the papers they reference. I've heard good things about this as a first step: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1408241 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1408241 Otherwise, I'd recommend Engineering a Compiler, or Modern Compiler Design in X by Appel (where X is one of the languages in which the book is offered).