An Automatically Generated, Realistic Compiler for an Imperative Programming Language

Abstract

We describe the automatic generation of a complete, realistic compiler from formal specifications of the syntax and semantics of Sol/C, a nontrivial imperative language “sort of like C.” The compiler exhibits a three pass structure, is efficient, and produces object programs whose performance characteristics compare favorably with those produced by commercially available compilers. To our knowledge, this is the first time that this has been accomplished.