Engineering a simple, efficient code-generator generator

  • Authors:
  • Christopher W. Fraser;David R. Hanson;Todd A. Proebsting

  • Affiliations:
  • AT & T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ;Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ;Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

  • Venue:
  • ACM Letters on Programming Languages and Systems (LOPLAS)
  • Year:
  • 1992

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Abstract

Many code-generator generators use tree pattern matching and dynamic programming. This paper describes a simple program that generates matchers that are fast, compact, and easy to understand. It is simpler than common alternatives: 200–700 lines of Icon or 950 lines of C versus 3000 lines of C for Twig and 5000 for burg. Its matchers run up to 25 times faster than Twig's. They are necessarily slower than burg's BURS (bottom-up rewrite system) matchers, but they are more flexible and still practical.