How compilers work

Conclusion

This article offered a brief look at how compilers parse and prepare source code. Keep in mind that not all compilers adhere to the approach described in this article. For example, one-pass compilers do without an internal representation of the code and generate the object code in a single pass. Also, the steps presented in this article sometimes do not occur in distinct phases but are, instead, interwoven.

Infos

  1. Compiler construction lecture notes (in German): http://www.staff.uni-giessen.de/~gc1079/
  2. Flex: https://github.com/westes/flex
  3. Bison: https://www.gnu.org/software/bison/

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