Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2003 01:51:45 +0100 From: Cliff Sarginson <clsn@raggedclown.net> To: FreeBSD Chat <FreeBSD-chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Cc: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> Subject: Compilers are like Gods. They almost never answer prayers Message-ID: <20030105005145.GE10722@raggedclown.net> In-Reply-To: <20030105000236.GB739@HAL9000.homeunix.com> References: <200212312041.gBVKfr183480@hokkshideh2.jetcafe.org> <3E120659.3D60EB30@mindspring.com> <20030101140530.GA11468@raggedclown.net> <4.3.2.7.2.20030104112345.02a48b70@localhost> <20030104201542.GA10588@raggedclown.net> <3E17535D.15E80093@mindspring.com> <20030105000236.GB739@HAL9000.homeunix.com>
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On Sat, Jan 04, 2003 at 04:02:36PM -0800, David Schultz wrote: > Thus spake Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>: > > OK, let me correct my statement: the difficulty of writing a > > compiler is actually irrelevent to the discussion for any trained > > computer scientist. > A little story. A long time ago I got intoduced to UNIX. Edition 6. I worked then in a University. We got the lot for free. 10,000 lines of "C". About 25 System calls. No "make" no insane Mr Joy's "csh". Yacc/Lex existed I think. Lex was a poodle. Yacc, well I found it harder. No "vi" We used "ed" My boss was the co-author of a screen editor called "ded". It made 'vi" look like the suck it was. Well many years later, I met my ex-boss. And "ded" was "dead". > Writing a compiler is not hard. I've done one with a complete > lexer, parser, type checker, code generator, and good error > handling in under 900 lines of LISP. Oh a real man. Funny you have not made it available on the web. (Not surprisingly, the > professor was Richard Fateman. :-) But writing a *good* compiler > is hard. Getting one to optimize well for a dozen target > architectures and handle every little detail of the C language > plus a few reasonable extensions takes a heck of a lot of > gruntwork. It's not nearly as simple as saying, ``Okay, we're going > to take a break from kernel hacking for a week and write a non-GPL'd > C/C++ compiler for FreeBSD.'' Bollocks. -- Regards Cliff Sarginson The Netherlands [ This mail has been checked as virus-free ] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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