On Sun, 2025-02-16 at 13:08 -0500, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: > You might want to look at the GCC internals manual. GCC has an > explicit layering, with front end processing steps that construct > parse trees which are then transformed in stages, until they reach > the "target" code which converts the final internal representation > into actual machine code.
The IBM 1401 FORTRAN II compiler consisted of 63 phases. It read the program into core, then loaded phases that massaged what it had in core until it eventually had machine code. It ran from a deck of about 2,500 cards, or from one tape. I have source code for it, and for a version I revised for the Computer History Museum. I reverse engineered operational tapes for two versions. Then the original author, Gary Mokotoff, found listings he thought he had lost when he retired. I transcribed his listings and assembled them. My code has more comments.
