comp.compilers Google Group

Re: parent pointers in AST nodes

2009-11-27T17:26:32Z

I don't think it's common.
One compiler that keeps parent pointers in the tree is GNAT
(the gcc Ada compiler).
I find that code that follows parent pointers tends to be confusing.
Same reasons that global variables cause trouble. It's usually better
to pass information down the tree as parameters during the tree walk

C++ - inlining of functions returning an unwindable object

2009-11-27T15:09:47Z

Hi all.
Note that I've first posted this to microsoft.public.vc.language and
after that to comp.lang.c++.moderated where I was told that someone on
comp.compilers may shed some light on this :-)
The Visual Studio compiler will never inline a funtion that returns an
unwindable object (e.g. std::string, CString, etc.)

parent pointers in AST nodes

2009-11-27T13:32:11Z

Hello,
When implementing an AST for some language, each AST node typically
holds information about the language construct it represents and
pointers to children nodes (such as a binary op node pointing to its
left-hand and right-hand operands).
Is it common / useful to supply a pointer to the node's parent as

GPCE'10 First Call for Papers (Eindhoven NL, Oct 10)

2009-11-25T12:10:33Z

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------
CALL FOR PAPERS
Ninth International Conference on
Generative Programming and Component Engineering
(GPCE 2010)
October 10-13, 2010
Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Compiler positions available for week ending November 22

2009-11-22T09:00:07Z

This is a digest of ``help wanted'' and ``position available'' messages
received at comp.compilers during the preceding week. Messages must
advertise a position having something to do with compilers and must also
conform to the guidelines periodically posted in misc.jobs.offered.
Positions that remain open may be re-advertised once a month. To respond

Re: compiling locks/ monitors

2009-11-22T00:57:01Z

In the Windows API there are CriticalSection objects:
[link]
and Mutex objects:
[link]
Under the POSIX API (implemented by NPTL under Linux) there are
mutexs:
[link]

Converter from Object-Pascal (Delphi) to C++

2009-11-19T12:55:46Z

The program Delphi2Cpp just has been released at:
[link]
Delphi2Cpp helps to convert Delphi source code to C++. The program
saves all simple purely mechanical syntactical substitutions and
rearrangements of the code in which the largest portion of the
translation consists. A lot of more complex translation steps are

CFP: 2nd Workshop on Constraints in Software Testing, Verification and Analysis (Paris, Apr 10)

2009-11-17T09:04:03Z

CALL FOR PAPERS
CSTVA'10
2nd Workshop on
Constraints in Software Testing, Verification and Analysis
[link]
April 10, 2010
Paris, France
Held in conjunction with the International Conference on
Software Testing, Verification and Validation, ICST 2010,
April 6-10, 2010:

The First Scala Workshop - Scala Days 2010 (Lausanne CH, Apr 10)

2009-11-18T11:50:31Z

The First Scala Workshop
========================
Call for Papers
---------------
Scala is a general purpose programming language designed to express
common programming patterns in a concise, elegant, and type-safe
way. It smoothly integrates features of object-oriented and
functional languages.
This workshop is a forum for researchers and practitioners to share

Re: Switch statement code generation

2009-11-17T09:16:59Z

The Wikipedia perfect hash function page says this is the definition of
a perfect hash function. It is called a minimal perfect function if the
image is an interval.
It also mentions some libraries implementing minimal perfect hash functions:
[link]
[link]

Meta-S and The Grammar Forge

2009-11-17T05:59:54Z

Hello!
In another forum, I noticed what appeared to be some possible
confusion as to the status of the Meta-S parser and The Grammar Forge.
The Meta-S technology and The Grammar Forge are indeed alive and well
(now in version 8.0), and are the subject of daily research and
development. Commercial as well as academic/research licensing are

Re: Switch statement code generation

2009-11-16T07:45:39Z

John wrote:
Is there a technical term for such slightly imperfect hashes?
Mathematically it would be an injection I suppose, but I have
not seen that term used in connection with hashing.

Re: Parsers, grammars and BNF

2009-11-16T04:39:25Z

It depends on what sort of advice you are looking for on writing BNF.
If you wariting plain BNF (not EBNF--i.e. no regexes), there are some
basic structures that are used and not many variations to worry about.
For example, if you want an optional A (sometime written A-opt or in
EBMF A?), you write a rule like:

Re: Switch statement code generation

2009-11-16T04:11:00Z

Hashes versus Tries:
We've done a fair amount of experimentation on hashing verus trie
building in our latest hardware design. As about 4 characters, hashes
start to win. And, in our case, we can fit either in 1st level cache,
that we can lock against spills, so cache misses aren't a penalty,
which tend to make hashing an even better choice. Now, actual hardware

Re: Parsers, grammars and BNF

2009-11-16T00:15:33Z

Many years ago (1977) I worked on a macro-processor called STEP.
Well, someone had written it, declared it finished, and then left.
I got to test it out, try some simple and not so simple problems,
and make some improvements.
As far as I know, the manual still exists but the program itself
does not. It was written in IBM Fortran IV, or maybe standard