Compiler Construction

Catalog description

This is a capstone course based on compilers and modern programming languages. The topics covered include structure of one-pass and multiple-pass compilers; symbol table management; lexical analysis; traditional and automated parsing techniques, including recursive descent and LR parsing; syntax-directed translation and semantic analysis; run-time storage management; intermediate code generation; introduction to optimization; and code generation. The course includes a special compiler-related capstone project, which ties together concepts of algorithms, theory (formal languages), programming languages, software engineering, computer architecture, and other subjects covered in the M.S. curriculum. This project requires a substantial semester-long programming effort, such as construction of a language compilation or translation system that includes lexical and syntactic analyzers, a type checker, and a code generator..