18 Questions
What happens to blanks separating lexemes during lexical analysis?
They are discarded by the lexical analyzer
What information does the semantic analyzer gather during semantic analysis?
Type information
What is the purpose of the syntax tree in syntax analysis?
To depict the grammatical structure of the token stream
What is the primary purpose of the code-optimization phase?
To improve the intermediate code for better target code
What is an important part of semantic analysis?
Type checking
What is the purpose of the symbol table in compiler design?
To store records of variable names and their attributes
What property should the intermediate representation have?
It should be easy to produce and easy to translate into the target machine
What is the purpose of the symbol table in the compilation process?
To store symbol information
What is the purpose of syntax and semantic analysis of the source program?
To identify syntax and semantic errors in the source program
What is the output of the lexical analyzer?
A sequence of tokens
What is three-address code?
A sequence of assembly-like instructions with three operands per instruction
What is the primary purpose of a symbol table in a compiler?
To store information about the names in the program for efficient lookup and retrieval
What is the benefit of performing code optimization?
Improving the running time of the target program
What is the output of the scanner phase in a compiler?
Token string
What is the primary function of the parser phase in a compiler?
To perform syntax analysis on the token string
What is the purpose of the semantic analyzer in a compiler?
To perform type checking and other semantic checks on the parse tree
What is the role of a linker in a compiler system?
To link object modules into a single object file
In which phase of the compiler does tokenization take place?
Scanner phase
Study Notes
Compiler Design
- In many programming languages, assignment statements require both sides to have the same data type.
Intermediate Code Generation
- After syntax and semantic analysis, compilers generate a low-level, machine-like intermediate representation (IR) of the source program.
- The IR should be easy to produce and translate into the target machine code.
- Three-address code is a common IR form, consisting of a sequence of assembly-like instructions with three operands per instruction.
Code Optimization
- The machine-independent code-optimization phase improves the intermediate code to produce better target code.
- Optimizations aim to generate faster, shorter, or more power-efficient code.
- Simple optimizations can significantly improve the running time of the target program without slowing down compilation.
Symbol-Table Management
- The symbol table is a data structure containing records for each variable name, with attributes such as storage allocation, type, scope, and argument information.
- Each record in the symbol table provides quick access and storage/retrieval of data.
Lexical Analysis
- The lexical analyzer maps lexemes to tokens, discarding irrelevant characters like blanks.
- Tokens are composed of a lexeme and an attribute, such as a pointer to the symbol-table entry.
Syntax Analysis (Parser)
- The parser uses the tokens produced by the lexical analyzer to create a syntax tree, depicting the grammatical structure of the token stream.
- Each interior node in the syntax tree represents an operation, with its children representing the operation's arguments.
Semantic Analysis
- Semantic analysis uses the syntax tree and symbol table to check the source program against the language definition.
- Type checking is a crucial part of semantic analysis, ensuring that each operator has matching operands.
Compiler Phases
- The phases of a compiler are:
- Scanner (lexical analysis)
- Parser (syntax analysis)
- Semantic analyzer (type checking, etc.)
- Intermediate code generator
- Optimizer
- Code generator
- Peephole optimizer
- Linker (linking object modules into a single file)
Learn about the importance of intermediate code generation in compiler design, including its properties and purposes. Test your understanding of compiler design principles and intermediate representations.
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