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Early experience with ASDL in lcc
Author(s) -
Hanson David R.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-024x(19990425)29:5<417::aid-spe241>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - compiler , computer science , programming language , compiler construction , component (thermodynamics) , code generation , overhead (engineering) , generator (circuit theory) , abstract syntax tree , syntax , language construct , interprocedural optimization , construct (python library) , optimizing compiler , reading (process) , parsing , operating system , artificial intelligence , loop optimization , linguistics , power (physics) , physics , philosophy , quantum mechanics , key (lock) , thermodynamics
The Abstract Syntax Description Language (ASDL) is a language for specifying the tree data structures often found in compiler intermediate representations. The ASDL generator reads an ASDL specification and generates code to construct, read and write instances of the trees specified. Using ASDL permits a compiler to be decomposed into semi‐independent components that communicate by reading and writing trees. Each component can be written in a different language, because the ASDL generator can emit code in several languages, and the files written by ASDL‐generated code are machine‐ and language‐independent. ASDL is part of the National Compiler Infrastructure project, which seeks to reduce dramatically the overhead of computer systems research by making it much easier to build high‐quality compilers. This paper describes dividing lcc, a widely used retargetable C compiler, into two components that communicate via trees defined in ASDL. As the first use of ASDL in a ‘real’ compiler, this experience reveals much about the effort required to retrofit an existing compiler to use ASDL, the overheads involved, and the strengths and weaknesses of ASDL itself and, secondarily, of lcc. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.