Rick wrote:
> I've been programming for about 10 years now and recently came across
> the Eiffel language. In all of that time I've never written a compiler
> and have decided I'd like to write a new one for Eiffel. I'm looking
> for some people to tell me what they would like to see in a new
> compiler. What standard should it be written to? What platform would
> you use it on? Would you like to see a full IDE or just a compiler?
> How about a symbolic debugger? Do you prefer a native language
> compiler or one that produces C/C++ code? Any comment you wish to make
> would be very welcome.
Writing a compiler for any language is an ambitious project, and as
Lothar suggested, it might be wise to at least take a look at one of
the existing projects. Eiffel is more challenging than you might expect
just from looking at the syntax. There are a lot of subtleties to the
language, and an Eiffel compiler tries to handle many jobs that other
languages push onto the application programmer.
All of the Eiffel compilers available today are open source, and all of
them offer op****tunities ranging from learning about compilers to
significant contributions.
My own preference would be a focus on native code generation, and to
not worry about a GUI. Compilers that generate C on the back end are
trading off a short-term gain for long-term pain.
Regards,
Greg C
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