Book Image

Build Your Own Programming Language - Second Edition

By : Clinton L. Jeffery
Book Image

Build Your Own Programming Language - Second Edition

By: Clinton L. Jeffery

Overview of this book

There are many reasons to build a programming language: out of necessity, as a learning exercise, or just for fun. Whatever your reasons, this book gives you the tools to succeed. You’ll build the frontend of a compiler for your language and generate a lexical analyzer and parser using Lex and YACC tools. Then you’ll explore a series of syntax tree traversals before looking at code generation for a bytecode virtual machine or native code. In this edition, a new chapter has been added to assist you in comprehending the nuances and distinctions between preprocessors and transpilers. Code examples have been modernized, expanded, and rigorously tested, and all content has undergone thorough refreshing. You’ll learn to implement code generation techniques using practical examples, including the Unicon Preprocessor and transpiling Jzero code to Unicon. You'll move to domain-specific language features and learn to create them as built-in operators and functions. You’ll also cover garbage collection. Dr. Jeffery’s experiences building the Unicon language are used to add context to the concepts, and relevant examples are provided in both Unicon and Java so that you can follow along in your language of choice. By the end of this book, you'll be able to build and deploy your own domain-specific language.
Table of Contents (27 chapters)
1
Section I: Programming Language Frontends
7
Section II: Syntax Tree Traversals
13
Section III: Code Generation and Runtime Systems
22
Section IV: Appendix
23
Answers
24
Other Books You May Enjoy
25
Index

Running Unicon

Unicon utilizes compile and link steps to translate source code programs into executable code. In this way, it is more like C than Java. Unicon source files end in the four characters .icn; it shares this extension with its predecessor, Icon.

Unicon object files are called ucode and end with the two characters .u. Here are some example invocations of the Unicon translator. Only the most common command-line options are presented:

  • unicon mainname [ filename(s) ]

    Compile and link mainname.icn and other filenames to form an executable named mainname.exe on Windows or just mainname on most other platforms. The other filenames may have the extension .icn or .u; if no extension is provided, .icn is automatically added.

  • unicon -o exename [ filename(s) ]

    The -o option directs the translator to compile and link an executable named exename, or on Windows, exename.exe. It’s the same as the previous example, except the output filename...