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Tag: Compiler

Compilers 109 – Linking and Wrap-up

Compilers 109 – Linking and Wrap-up

Published April 2, 2018 by Paul Lefebvre

The linker is not technically part of the compiler, but it is needed to make a completed app. The purpose of the linker is to combine (link) all the various bits and pieces of machine code created by the compiler along with the necessary information to create a runnable app for the OS.

This is the ninth and final post in our Compiler series. Previous posts:

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Compilers 108 – Code Generation

Compilers 108 – Code Generation

Published March 26, 2018 by Paul Lefebvre

Code generation is one of the last steps of the compiler. This is where the compiler emits actual machine code for the IR that was previously created.

This is the eighth post in our Compiler series. Other posts:

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Compilers 107 – Optimizer Loop Unrolling

Compilers 107 – Optimizer Loop Unrolling

Published March 19, 2018 by Paul Lefebvre

The last post covered optimization in general. In this post you’ll look at a specific optimization called “loop unrolling”.

This is the seventh post in our Compiler series. Other posts:

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Compilers 106 – Optimizer

Compilers 106 – Optimizer

Published January 31, 2018 by Paul Lefebvre

An optimizer “improves” the IR, but that can mean a lot of different things. Improve could mean “run faster” or “use less memory”. Or perhaps you want to optimize for memory access time because CPUs are so fast it is sometimes more efficient to repeatedly calculate something rather than calculate it once, store it and access it later.

This is the sixth post in our Compiler series. Previous posts:

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Compilers 105 – Back End Overview

Compilers 105 – Back End Overview

Published January 29, 2018 by Paul Lefebvre

Once the front end has done its work its time for the back end components to take over.

This is the fifth in our compiler series and the first on the back end. We covered the parts of the compiler that are called the front end in these posts:

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Compilers 103 – Semantic Analyzer

Compilers 103 – Semantic Analyzer

Published January 22, 2018 by Paul Lefebvre

The Semantic Analyzer is the real heart of the compiler. Its job is to validate code and figure out what the code actually means. Essentially it validates that the code is semantically correct.

This is the third post in our Compiler series. Previous posts:

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Compilers 102 – Parser

Compilers 102 – Parser

Published December 8, 2017 by Paul Lefebvre

At XDC 2016 there was a lot of interest in our Compiler session and LLVM. I’ve summarized a bit about LLVM in an earlier post, but to take things further, we put together this series of blog posts on compilers.

These will all be at a high-level. None of these posts are going to teach you how to write a compiler. The goal of these posts is for you to have a basic understanding of the components of a compiler and how they all work together to create a native app.

This is the second post in our ongoing series on compilers. I recommend that you first read Compilers 101 – Overview and Lexer before continuing.

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Compilers 101 – Overview and Lexer

Compilers 101 – Overview and Lexer

Published December 6, 2017 by Paul Lefebvre

At XDC 2016 there was a lot of interest in our Compiler session and LLVM. I’ve summarized a bit about LLVM in an earlier post, but to take things further, we put together this series of blog posts on compilers.

These will all be at a high-level. None of these posts are going to teach you how to write a compiler. The goal of these posts is for you to have a basic understanding of the components of a compiler and how they all work together to create a native app.

Continue readingCompilers 101 – Overview and Lexer
Comments closed