> One of the most enlightening points about interpreters/compilers is that, to a first approximation, the only difference between an interpreter and compiler is what it does when it walks the tree --- an interpreter executes the actions immediately, while a compiler generates code which executes those actions.

For something else in a similar vein, I've always liked:

http://howistart.org/posts/nim/1/

I suppose implementing brainfuck is more like writing a vm, than a language - but I still think the article is a surprisingly straightforward implementation of a compiler.