Control Flow Treatment in a Simple Semantics-Directed Compiler Generator

Abstract

A simple algebra-based algorithm for compiler generation is described. Its input is a semantic definition of a programming language, and its output is a ''compiling semantics'' which maps each source program into a sequence of compile-time actions whose net effect on execution is the production of a semantically equivalent target program. The method does not require individual compiler correctness proofs or the construction of specialized target algebras. Source program execution is assumed to proceed by performing a series of elementary actions on a runtime state. A semantic algebra is introduced to represent and manipulate possible execution sequences. A source semantic definition has two parts: A set of semantic equations mapping source programs into terms of the algebra, and an interpretation which gives concrete definitions of the state and the elementary actions on it.