Partial computation as a practical aid in the compiler construction course

Abstract

A brief account of the concep t of partial computation is given in th e context of the Pascal language .The manual conversion of programs int o generating extensions is explained using examples of gradually increasing complexity . This culminates in a readil y applicable but too-little known techniqu e of converting interpreters into compiler s without dealing directly with machin e language . Students taking courses i n language processing should be taught thi s technique and perhaps also the genera l principles underlying it .A simpl e example of the application of th e technique is presented .

The Interpreter In An Undergraduate Compilers Course

“…Pagan proposes the inclusion of material on partial evaluation to derive a code generator from a language's interpreter [13]. However, his work in that paper is more focused on the specialization of an interpreter for a program with respect to a file of known input values, and the way in which this can be used to generate a more efficient intermediate representation (Pascal source code).…”