Bootstrapping compiler generators from partial evaluators

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper shows that bootstrapping of compiler generators from program specializers is a viable alternative to the third Futamura projection. To practically validate the technique, a novel partial evaluation-based compiler generator was designed and implemented for a recursive flowchart language. Three-step bootstrapping was found to be faster and to produce the same compiler generator that Gomard and Jones produced two decades ago by double self-application. Compiler-generator bootstrapping has distinct properties that are not present in the classic three Futamura projections, such as the ability to turn a specializer into a compiler generator in one step without self-application. Up to now, the approach of hand-writing compiler generators has only been used to avoid difficulties when specializing strongly-typed languages, not as a first step towards compiler-generator bootstrapping.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPerspectives of System Informatics : 8th International Andrei Ershov Memorial Conference, PSI 2011, Novosibirsk, Russia, June 27-July 1, 2011, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsEdmund Clarke, Irina Virbitskaite, Andrei Voronkov
Number of pages17
PublisherSpringer
Publication date2012
Pages125-141
ISBN (Print)978-3-642-29708-3
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-642-29709-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Event8th International Andrei Ershov Memorial Conference on Perspectives of Systems Informatics - Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
Duration: 27 Jun 20111 Jul 2011
Conference number: 8

Conference

Conference8th International Andrei Ershov Memorial Conference on Perspectives of Systems Informatics
Number8
Country/TerritoryRussian Federation
CityNovosibirsk
Period27/06/201101/07/2011
SeriesLecture notes in computer science
Volume7162
ISSN0302-9743

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