Converting interpreters into compilers
- 1 June 1988
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Software: Practice and Experience
- Vol. 18 (6) , 509-527
- https://doi.org/10.1002/spe.4380180603
Abstract
There is an effective and quite general method of manually deriving compilers from programming‐language interpreters without dealing directly with machine language. The method is an implementation of the largely theoretical and under‐appreciated concept of partial computation, but can be understood on its own terms. It involves the translation of a source program's intermediate form into the interpreter's implementation language. This paper shows how the method can be used to transform both a sample iterative interpreter and a sample recursive interpreter into compilers. The result can be a large gain in program execution speed. Other advantages of the method, including the ease and practicality of applying it, are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- The concept of a supercompilerACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems, 1986
- An experiment in partial evaluationACM SIGPLAN Notices, 1985
- On the generation of compilers from language definitionsInformation Processing Letters, 1980
- On the partial computation principleInformation Processing Letters, 1977