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Building Programming Language Interpreters
book

Building Programming Language Interpreters

by Daniel Ruoso
January 2026
Intermediate to advanced
372 pages
8h 14m
English
Packt Publishing
Content preview from Building Programming Language Interpreters

10

Initialization and Entry Point

Up to this point, I have been working on design considerations for the interpreter and the programming language. Now, it is time to start on the actual code for the interpreter. In this chapter, I will work through the outermost layer of the interpreter, covering the following:

  • The overall layout of the project
  • The state of the interpreter that needs to be maintained throughout the execution
  • How to make sure the interpreter can be easily embedded into existing systems
  • Mechanisms to make the interpreter code more adaptable to growing needs
  • How the interpreter will interact with I/O operations

By the end of this chapter, you will have a practical framework for thinking about the implementation of your own interpreter ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781837638079