1st Edition

Introduction to Compiler Construction in a Java World

    382 Pages 93 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    Immersing students in Java and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Introduction to Compiler Construction in a Java World enables a deep understanding of the Java programming language and its implementation. The text focuses on design, organization, and testing, helping students learn good software engineering skills and become better programmers.

    The book covers all of the standard compiler topics, including lexical analysis, parsing, abstract syntax trees, semantic analysis, code generation, and register allocation. The authors also demonstrate how JVM code can be translated to a register machine, specifically the MIPS architecture. In addition, they discuss recent strategies, such as just-in-time compiling and hotspot compiling, and present an overview of leading commercial compilers. Each chapter includes a mix of written exercises and programming projects.

    By working with and extending a real, functional compiler, students develop a hands-on appreciation of how compilers work, how to write compilers, and how the Java language behaves. They also get invaluable practice working with a non-trivial Java program of more than 30,000 lines of code. Fully documented Java code for the compiler is accessible at http://www.cs.umb.edu/j--/

    Compilation
    Compilers
    Why Should We Study Compilers?
    How Does a Compiler Work? The Phases of Compilation
    An Overview of the j-- to JVM Compiler
    The j-- Compiler Source Tree
    The Organization of This Book

    Lexical Analysis
    Introduction
    Scanning Tokens
    Regular Expressions
    Finite State Automata
    Nondeterministic Finite-State Automata (NFA) vs. Deterministic Finite-State Automata (DFA)
    Regular Expressions to NFA
    NFA to DFA
    A Minimal DFA
    JavaCC: A Tool for Generating Scanners

    Parsing
    Introduction
    Context-Free Grammars and Languages
    Top-down Deterministic Parsing
    Bottom-up Deterministic Parsing
    Parser Generation Using JavaCC

    Type Checking
    Introduction
    The j--Types
    j-- Symbol Tables
    Pre-Analysis of j-- Programs
    Analysis of j-- Programs
    The Visitor Pattern and the AST Traversal Mechanism
    Programming Language Design and Symbol Table Structure
    Attribute Grammars

    JVM Code Generation
    Introduction
    Generating Code for Classes and Their Members
    Generating Code for Control and Logical Expressions
    Generating Code for Message Expressions, Field Selection and Array Expressions
    Generating Code for Assignment and Similar Operations
    Generating Code for String Concatenation
    Generating Code for Casts

    Translating JVM Code to MIPS Code
    Introduction
    SPIM and the MIPS Architecture
    Our Translator

    Register Allocation
    Introduction
    Naïve Register Allocation
    Local Register Allocation
    Global Register Allocation

    Celebrity Compilers
    Introduction
    The Java HotSpot Compiler
    The Eclipse Compiler for Java (ECJ)
    The GNU Java Compiler (GCJ)
    Microsoft C# Compiler for .NET Framework

    Appendix A: Setting Up and Running j--
    Appendix B: The j-- Language
    Appendix C: Java Syntax
    Appendix D: The JVM, Class Files and the
    CLEmitter
    Appendix E: MIPS and the SPIM Simulator

    Bibliography

    Index

    Further Readings and Exercises appear at the end of each chapter.

    Biography

    Bill Campbell is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Dr. Campbell has been teaching compilers for more than twenty years and has commercial experience working with AT&T, Intermetrics Inc., Apple Computer, and Entitlenet. His areas of expertise include software engineering, object-oriented analysis, design and programming, and programming language implementation.

    Swami Iyer is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he has taught classes on introductory programming and data structures. His research interests are in the fields of dynamical systems, complex networks, and evolutionary game theory.

    Bahar Akbal-Delibas is a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where she is the teaching assistant for the compilers course. Her research interests include structural bioinformatics and software modeling.

    "… a strong contribution to the … covers most standard compiler construction techniques well, and does a good job of exposing students to actual implementation environments. … Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
    —C. Vickery, Queens College of CUNY in CHOICE Magazine

    "… an excellent book to use for individual study or in an upper-level undergraduate or first-year graduate course. No previous background in the theory of computation is needed, but a solid Java background is essential and some previous experience with programming languages (scope, stack allocation, types, and so on) would be useful. Knowledge of assembly language programming will be helpful if the course will include the chapters on register allocation and translating to MIPS."
    —Computing Reviews, March 2014