Compilers: Principles and Practice by Pearson

Preface

“Why learn compilers?” – that is a question many of our students have asked us in our teaching career.

We have given various answers – sometimes serious, sometimes only partially serious, but here are

two quotes which we like:

“If you don’t understand compilers, you can still write programs – you can even be a

competent programmer – but you can’t be a master.”

– Hal Abelson, MIT

“If you don’t know how compilers work, then you don’t know how computers work. If you’re

not 100% sure whether you know how compilers work, then you don’t know how they work.”

– Steve Yegge

The study of compilation techniques is integration of many things a Computer ...