Re:Writing a C Compiler, Part 1
by Someone on Friday December 01, 2017 @05:33PM
(#15828321)
Yes. The categorical statement “compilers are large and complex” is incorrect, and IMO is detrimental to getting people interested in the field.
We don’t say “Web applications are large and complex”, either.
Just as you can start simple with a web application and, if needed, grow it, you can start with a simple compiler and, if needed, grow it.
(And, on current hardware, I think the complexity of the language matters less than it used to. Single pass languages such as pascal still are easier targets, but computers have plenty of RAM, so fixing up things is easier than it used to be.
We don’t say “Web applications are large and complex”, either.
Just as you can start simple with a web application and, if needed, grow it, you can start with a simple compiler and, if needed, grow it.
(And, on current hardware, I think the complexity of the language matters less than it used to. Single pass languages such as pascal still are easier targets, but computers have plenty of RAM, so fixing up things is easier than it used to be.