Compilers: Principles and Practice

1.6 A More Detailed Look at Phases of a Compiler

We have already seen that a compiler has the following phases:

• Pre-processing
• Scanner – Lexical Analysis
• Parser – Syntax Analysis
• Mapper – Semantic Analysis
• Code Generation
• Assembler
• Optimization (spread over several phases)
• Error Checking (spread over several phases)

A compiler generates intermediate files between these phases, to communicate output of one phase as input to the next (see Fig. 1.14).

We now discuss each phase of a compiler in some details.

 

 

Fig. 1.14 Phases of a compiler and intermediate outputs

1.6.1 Lexical Analyzer - Scanner

Does lexical analysis, by doing the following: ...