Programming Languages and Translators, Study notes of Programming Languages

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Programming Languages and Translators

Stephen A. Edwards

Columbia University

Fall 2013

Pieter Bruegel, The Tower of Babel , 1563

Instructor

Prof. Stephen A. Edwards sedwards@cs.columbia.edu http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/ 462 Computer Science Building

Objectives

Theory of language design œ (^) Finer points of languages œ (^) Different languages and paradigms Practice of Compiler Construction œ (^) Overall structure of a compiler œ (^) Automated tools and their use œ (^) Lexical analysis to assembly generation

Required Text

Alfred V. Aho, Monica S. Lam, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman. Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools. Addison-Wesley, 2006. Second Edition. Bug Al about all bugs. You can get away with the first edition.

Prerequisites

COMS W3261 Computer Science Theory œ (^) You need to understand grammars œ (^) We will be working with regular and context-free languages COMS W3157 Advanced Programming œ (^) Teams will build a large software system œ (^) Makefiles, version control, test suites œ (^) Testing will be as important as development

Class Website

Off my home page, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/ Contains syllabus, lecture notes, and assignments. Schedule may be updated

Part I

The Project

The Project

Design and implement your own little language. Five deliverables:

1. A proposal describing and motivating your language
2. A language reference manual defining it formally
3. A compiler or interpreter for your language running on some sample programs
4. A final project report
5. A final project presentation

First Three Tasks

1. Decide who you will work with You’ll be stuck with them for the term; choose wisely.
2. Elect a team leader Languages come out better from dictatorships, not democracies. Besides, you’ll have someone to blame.
3. Select a weekly meeting time Harder than you might think.

Teams

œ (^) There should be one leader. S/he should resolve all contentious design decisions. œ (^) If you have any doubt about your team dynamics, have no doubt: you are headed for trouble. Tell your TA or me about it as soon as possible. Each member of a group gets a separate grade for the project.

Language Reference Manual

A careful definition of the syntax and semantics of your language. Follow the style of the C language reference manual (Appendix A of Kernighan and Ritchie, The C Programming Langauge ; see the class website).

Final Report Sections

1. Introduction: the proposal
2. Language Tutorial
3. Language Reference Manual
4. Project Plan
5. Architectural Design
6. Test Plan
7. Lessons Learned
8. Complete listing

Design a language?

A small, domain-specific language. Think of awk or php, not Java or C++. Examples from earlier terms: Geometric figure drawing language Matlab-like array manipulation language Quantum computing language Screenplay animation language Escher-like pattern generator Music manipulation language (harmony) Web surfing language Mathematical function manipulator Simple scripting language (à lá Tcl)

Three Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Configuration File Syndrome œ (^) Your language must be able to express algorithms , not just data œ (^) If your language looks like “a bird and a bird and a turtle and a pond and grass and a rock,” it has fallen victim to configuration file syndrome and needs to be changed