A Truly Generative Semantics-Directed Compiler Generator

Abstract

This paper describes semantic processing in the compiler generating system MUG2. MUG2 accepts high-level descriptions of the semantics of a programming language including full runtime semantics, data flow analysis, and optimizing transformations. This distinguishes MUG2 from systems such as YACC [Joh75], HLP [HLP78], PQCC [PQC79], or its own former version [GRW77] with respect to expressive power and convenience. In this respect, MUG2 comes close to semantics-directed systems such as [Mos76], [JoS80], [Set81], [Pau82]. In contrast to these, MUG2 is not a universal translator system where program independent semantic properties have to be evaluated at compilation time. The description concepts of MUG2 allow a far reaching separation of language vs. program dependent semantics, thus constituting a truly generative approach to semantics-directed compiler generation.