3 ms·

As I've been working on my pet compiler project recently, I began to collect some compiler-related online resources, this book is one of the hidden gems. The a

As I've been working on my pet compiler project recently, I began to collect some compiler-related online resources, this book is one of the hidden gems. The author (Torben Mogensen) has been so generous to give it out for free, that's why I think it needs more exposure. It's heavy on the compiler theory part, so I mainly use it as a reference book. It also has a "companion" book (my take) -- Programming Language Concepts for Software Developers [1] by Peter Sestoft. The PLCSD book, also free, is more on hand-on projects, where you can implement a Micro-C compiler. [1] http://www.itu.dk/courses/BPRD/E2010/plcsd-0_50.pdf http://www.itu.dk/courses/BPRD/E2010/plcsd-0_50.pdf

singular 15y ago
Perfect. The two together act to provide theory + practice (especially cool that PLCfSD uses F# :-) What other resources have you found, and how do they compare? Have you read the Dragon Book? I hear it isn't actually all that wonderful in reality, though there seems to be differing opinions on that. I have both a pet compiler project which has never really got off the ground and am attempting to contribute (albeit slowly!) to the go programming language so have a special interest :)
- cygwin98 15y ago
  The intriguing part of PLCSD to me is that it uses F#, which is the language I use as the tool for my project, :) I took compiler course during my university days, so the theory part is not a big issue to me. That's why this free book comes so handy as a reference book. I'm aware of the dragon book, tiger book, as well as, the whale book and had a quick read in bookstore. They all are good books, but I don't find my need to keep them on my bookshelf. So I don't think I am in the position to comment on them. YMMV.
  - abecedarius 15y ago
    I hadn't heard of a whale book -- that turns out to mean Muchnick's.
- onan_barbarian 15y ago
  The Dragon book's weaknessess, IMO, were the code generation and optimization sections. This has been comprehensively fixed in the second edition thanks to the addition of Monica Lam as an author - her experience on the code generation side is extensive and recent.

singular 15y ago

Perfect. The two together act to provide theory + practice (especially cool that PLCfSD uses F# :-) What other resources have you found, and how do they compare? Have you read the Dragon Book? I hear it isn't actually all that wonderful in reality, though there seems to be differing opinions on that. I have both a pet compiler project which has never really got off the ground and am attempting to contribute (albeit slowly!) to the go programming language so have a special interest :)

cygwin98 15y ago
The intriguing part of PLCSD to me is that it uses F#, which is the language I use as the tool for my project, :) I took compiler course during my university days, so the theory part is not a big issue to me. That's why this free book comes so handy as a reference book. I'm aware of the dragon book, tiger book, as well as, the whale book and had a quick read in bookstore. They all are good books, but I don't find my need to keep them on my bookshelf. So I don't think I am in the position to comment on them. YMMV.
- abecedarius 15y ago
  I hadn't heard of a whale book -- that turns out to mean Muchnick's.
onan_barbarian 15y ago
The Dragon book's weaknessess, IMO, were the code generation and optimization sections. This has been comprehensively fixed in the second edition thanks to the addition of Monica Lam as an author - her experience on the code generation side is extensive and recent.