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Why should students still study compilers?

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  Why should students still study compilers? Roger L Costello <costello@mitre.org> - 2026-08-24 17:44 +0000
    Re: Why should students still study compilers? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de - 2026-08-26 16:37 +0000
    Re: Why should students still study compilers? Davide Grandi <davide.grandi@email.it> - 2026-08-29 09:31 +0200

#3741 — Why should students still study compilers?

For many years, I've regarded compiler construction as one of the most
scientific, disciplined, and algorithmic areas of computer science. There is
something wonderfully satisfying about a field in which so much can be derived
systematically rather than done by the seat of the pants.

The difficulty, at least in my experience, is that there simply aren't that
many jobs writing compilers. Occasionally I get a small job writing a
dedicated parser, but for the most part I have little opportunity to use
compiler algorithms professionally. That makes it hard to justify spending my
limited time keeping those skills fresh.

And now I wonder whether LLMs will reduce the demand for some kinds of
compiler and parser expertise even further.

So I'm curious what people on this list think: **Why should a computer science
student today take a compiler course?**

Do students take compiler courses because the techniques they learn are likely
to be useful in their careers, despite the relatively small number of jobs
involving compiler development? Or is the real value of a compiler course that
it teaches broader ways of thinking about languages, grammars,
representations, transformations, optimization, and software systems?

And has the arrival of LLMs changed your answer at all?

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#3746

Roger L Costello <costello@mitre.org> wrote or quoted:
>So I'm curious what people on this list think: **Why should a computer science
>student today take a compiler course?**

  A computer science student should be prepared for a computer
  science career at a university, so he clearly needs compiler
  construction there. But maybe he could still learn this as a
  postgrad.

  Some percentage, like 5 or 10 percent of graduates might in fact
  write or maintain compilers or interpreters at some organization.

  Others might use their knowledge to implement DSLs.

  With the new AI programming agents, the programmers do often not
  write code themselves, but they might need to supervise these tools.
  This requires knowledge in compiler construction when the project
  at hand is related to this field.

  Other students will not need this class indeed, but this can often
  only be seen in hindsight. When the student studies, it is often not
  yet known what parts of his education he will need in the future. So
  one needs to include those topics that most students will probably
  need so that later they can choose between as many career paths in
  the field as possible.

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#3752

Hi,

instinctively: because if someone works on software the lifecycle of a
"program", compilers are simply fundamental.

experimentally: it worked for my studies and "career", guiding my choices on
software tools from writing to testing. And, in many cases, for
transforming.

philologically: the fifth book of "The art of computer programming" will be
about scanning and parsing.

culturally: if one knows at least the basics of grammars and syntax (not to
speak about the following phases) that one can face the usually-butcomplex
recurring problems, maybe choosing wisely the right tool

Bye, end of my 0,02 €

     Davide

On 24/08/2026 19:44, Roger L Costello wrote:
> For many years, I've regarded compiler construction as one of the most
> scientific, disciplined, and algorithmic areas of computer science. There is
> something wonderfully satisfying about a field in which so much can be derived
> systematically rather than done by the seat of the pants.
>
> The difficulty, at least in my experience, is that there simply aren't that
> many jobs writing compilers. Occasionally I get a small job writing a
> dedicated parser, but for the most part I have little opportunity to use
> compiler algorithms professionally. That makes it hard to justify spending my
> limited time keeping those skills fresh.
>
> And now I wonder whether LLMs will reduce the demand for some kinds of
> compiler and parser expertise even further.
>
> So I'm curious what people on this list think: **Why should a computer science
> student today take a compiler course?**
>
> Do students take compiler courses because the techniques they learn are likely
> to be useful in their careers, despite the relatively small number of jobs
> involving compiler development? Or is the real value of a compiler course that
> it teaches broader ways of thinking about languages, grammars,
> representations, transformations, optimization, and software systems?
>
> And has the arrival of LLMs changed your answer at all?

--
ing. Davide Grandi
email    : davide.grandi@email.it
mobile   : +39 339 7468 778
linkedin : http://linkedin.com/in/davidegrandi

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