Modern Compiler Implementation in Java
Second Edition
This textbook describes all phases of a compiler: lexical analysis, parsing, abstract syntax, semantic
actions, intermediate representations, instruction selection via tree matching, dataflow analysis, graph-
coloring register allocation, and runtime systems. It includes good coverage of current techniques in
code generation and register allocation, as well as the compilation of functional and object-oriented
languages, which is missing from most books. The most accepted and successful techniques are de-
scribed concisely, rather than as an exhaustive catalog of every possible variant. Detailed descriptions
of the interfaces between modules of a compiler are illustrated with actual Java classes.
The first part of the book, Fundamentals of Compilation, is suitable for a one-semester first course in
compiler design. The second part, Advanced Topics, which includes the compilation of object-oriented
and functional languages, garbage collection, loop optimization, SSA form, instruction scheduling, and
optimization for cache-memory hierarchies, can be used for a second-semester or graduate course.
This new edition has been rewritten extensively to include more discussion of Java and object-oriented
programming concepts, such as visitor patterns. A unique feature is the newly redesigned compiler
project in Java for a subset of Java itself. The project includes both front-end and back-end phases, so
that students can build a complete working compiler in one semester.
Andrew W. Appel is Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. He has done research
and published papers on compilers, functional programming languages, runtime systems and garbage
collection, type systems, and computer security; he is also author of the book Compiling with Contin-
uations. He is a designer and founder of the Standard ML of New Jersey project. In 1998, Appel was
elected a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery for “significant research contributions
in the area of programming languages and compilers” and for his work as editor-in-chief (1993–97)
of the ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems, the leading journal in the field of
compilers and programming languages.
Jens Palsberg is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University. His research inter-
ests are programming languages, compilers, software engineering, and information security. He has
authored more than 50 technical papers in these areas and a book with Michael Schwartzbach, Object-
oriented Type Systems. In 1998, he received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career
Development Award, and in 1999, the Purdue University Faculty Scholar award.
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