I'm sorry but I beg to differ with your, it is entirely possible to
write the code generator for a compiler in a high level language. Most
C-compilers are written that way.
The initial after reset code may need to be written in assembler to
properly setup some registers prior to the run time system for the high
level language (stack, interrupt masks, cache initialization, etc.).
On 6/17/2026 12:55 PM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
On Jun 17, 2026, at 11:55 AM, Mark Green via cctalk <[email protected]>
wrote:
I recently reviewed a college program that had a COBOL course. It’s not quite
dead in academia.
Speaking of academia: clearly any "academic" who claims Assembler is dead is
unqualified for the job. It may be true that not very much application code is written
in assembler. But it should be obvious that competence in assembler is absolutely
necessary in order to build a compiler -- in particular, a compiler back-end.
paul
