Generation of Compiler Symbol Processing Mechanisms

Abstract

Compiler symbol processing has become complex as programming languages have evolved.In this paper we describe a comprehensive model of symbol processing, and a system that uses this model to generate the symbol processing portions of a compiler from simple specifications.The model supports a variety of entities with different types of names.It includes a detailed view of scoping.It provides a simple picture of the complex mapping from a source token to a specific entity.The model is illustrated with examples from Ada.The system is divided into two parts.The first takes a nonprocedural description of the semantics of symbols in the language and produces a symbol table module for a compiler for that language.The second supports a simple symbol processing language that allows the easy connection of syntax and semantic processing to the symbol module.