Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!news.glorb.com!npeer01.iad.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!border3.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news.iecc.com!nerds-end From: Philip Herron Newsgroups: comp.compilers Subject: Re: Good practical language and OS agnostic text? Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:25:37 +0100 Organization: Compilers Central Lines: 40 Sender: news@iecc.com Approved: comp.compilers@iecc.com Message-ID: <12-04-021@comp.compilers> References: <12-04-019@comp.compilers> NNTP-Posting-Host: news.iecc.com X-Trace: leila.iecc.com 1334764335 80030 64.57.183.58 (18 Apr 2012 15:52:15 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@iecc.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:52:15 +0000 (UTC) Keywords: books, comment Posted-Date: 18 Apr 2012 11:52:15 EDT X-submission-address: compilers@iecc.com X-moderator-address: compilers-request@iecc.com X-FAQ-and-archives: http://compilers.iecc.com X-Received-Bytes: 3251 Xref: csiph.com comp.compilers:564 On 17 April 2012 22:28, wrote: > .... I'm a good practical programmer and have experience with > writing my own libraries for all sorts of data structures and > functions and am not a cut and paste sort of fellow at all. I hope to > find a text or two for a guy like me who isn't a professor! Thanks for > your suggestions. I understand your squabbles with wanting a very straight forward text to work from. I had similar annoyances although I have a degree in Math and Computer science maybe that made it a little easier but I personally think understanding the ideas behind grammar and state machines etc all that theory is actually very straight forward it just can look obscure but it is kind of essential to know otherwise you can end up making a lot of mistakes without really understanding why. But that's not to say just taking your time to understand from first principles you wont get there it just would take more time. I personally found the Lex and Yacc o'reilly book extremely insightful because if you work though the bison manual the examples they give can really make you see how things work to a very basic level and its very easy to see how it can be extended very quickly. Another is the dragon book i still think although there is a lot of obscurity in it, but Its a classic book for a reason its actually really really good. There are a few other online pdf manuals i don't have the links for but a very quick search though this mailing list will turn them up. Some of them a very much to the point. The biggest point of all is compiler and os work isn't very rewarding for a very long time when you start working at it. As in you can go for ages and ages and not feel like your getting anywhere then all of a sudden it can click. Well that's how i feel sometimes. I hope this gives you some hope because its not the easiest subject to tackle. There is no substitution to just working at something just starting your own small basic compiler project to understand expressions will give you very much of what you want to know for the basics in my opinion and just work at that in your own time. --Phil [Thanks for the suggestion of lex & yacc. I revised it a couple of years ago, the new edition is called flex & bison. -John]