From owner-freebsd-chat Sat Jan 4 16:52: 2 2003 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 38C3C37B401 for ; Sat, 4 Jan 2003 16:52:01 -0800 (PST) Received: from post-21.mail.nl.demon.net (post-21.mail.nl.demon.net [194.159.73.20]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 19AC943E4A for ; Sat, 4 Jan 2003 16:52:00 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from clsn@raggedclown.net) Received: from [212.238.197.102] (helo=mailhost.raggedclown.net) by post-21.mail.nl.demon.net with esmtp (Exim 3.36 #1) id 18Uz1C-000JSc-00; Sun, 05 Jan 2003 00:51:58 +0000 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id A620E1669; Sun, 5 Jan 2003 01:51:57 +0100 (CET) Received: from willow.raggedclown.net (willow.raggedclown.intra [192.168.1.10]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id 11F011002; Sun, 5 Jan 2003 01:51:45 +0100 (CET) Received: by willow.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Host [willow], from userid 1009) id 9A30E225DC; Sun, 5 Jan 2003 01:51:45 +0100 (CET) Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2003 01:51:45 +0100 From: Cliff Sarginson To: FreeBSD Chat Cc: Terry Lambert Subject: Compilers are like Gods. They almost never answer prayers Message-ID: <20030105005145.GE10722@raggedclown.net> 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> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20030105000236.GB739@HAL9000.homeunix.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.1i X-Virus-Scanned: by AMaViS 0.3.12pre8 Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org On Sat, Jan 04, 2003 at 04:02:36PM -0800, David Schultz wrote: > Thus spake Terry Lambert : > > 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