Initial import of l1c

[snipe.git] / README

(* README
 * Author: Frank Pfenning <fp@cs.cmu.edu>
 *)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to 15-411 F08!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is some starter code for the L1 compiler you have to build for
the Lab1.  It contains a lexer, parser, translator, and even a code
generator, except that the code generator creates pseudo assembly
language with fictitious instructions and an unlimited number of
registers.  We took some care to use good style (according to the
instructor); you may consider this a model for your own coding.  Feel
free to modify any and all of this code as you see fit.

Bug reports to the instructor Frank Pfenning <fp@cs.cmu.edu> are
particularly welcome and will be noted in the extra credit category.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SML Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many different compilers for SML, perhaps the most
popular ones are

  SML/NJ  -- http://www.smlnj.org/
  MLton   -- http://www.mlton.org/
  Poly/ML -- http://www.polyml.org/

In this class we will be using SML/NJ v110.59.  Please make sure your
code compiles under specifically this version on the lab machines
where it is the default and can be invoked simply with "sml" in a
shell.

If you develop your implementation on other machines, similar versions
of SML/NJ are likely to be compatible, but you should certainly check
your code on the lab machines.

For (almost universal) Standard Basis Libraries, see
http://www.standardml.org/Basis/index.html.  Further resources, such
as documentation for ML-Lex and ML-Yacc, and documentation for the SML/NJ
specific libraries which are used in the starter code, can be found at

  http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~fp/courses/15411-f08/resources.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source Files
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following are the source files for the L1 compiler

README               -- this file

Makefile             -- makefile for the compiler
                        For a quick test

    % make l1c          (generates file bin/l1c.heap.<os-tag>)
    % bin/l1c --verbose ../tests/test1.c

	                should generate ../tests/test1.s in pseudo assembly

    % make clean        (removes generated files)
    % make TAGS         (creates file TAGS, for Emacs tags commands)

compile-l1c.sml      -- SML commands that will create bin/l1c.heap.<os-tag>
bin/l1c              -- the script that will run the exported SML heap

sources.cm           -- lists all source files, including libraries,
                        and lexer and grammar specifications
		        For a quick test

    % sml
    - CM.make "sources.cm";
    - Top.test "--verbose ../tests/test1.c";

                        should generate ../tests/test1.s in pseudo assembly

parse/ast.sml        -- definition and printer for abstract syntax trees (AST's)
parse/l1.lex         -- L1 lexer
parse/l1.grm         -- L1 grammar
parse/parse.sml      -- L1 parser
parse/parsestate.sml -- L1 parser support for error messages

type/typechecker.sml -- (trivial) type-checker for AST

trans/temp.sml       -- functions to generate and track temp's
trans/tree.sml       -- definition and pretty printer for IR trees
trans/trans.sml      -- translation from AST to IR trees

codegen/assem.sml    -- pseudo assembly format for this starter code
codegen/codegen.sml  -- pseudo code generator

util/errormsg.sml    -- error message utilities
util/flag.sml        -- library for defining flags
util/mark.sml        -- library for tracking source file positions
util/safe-io.sml     -- I/O utilities
util/symbol.sml      -- symbol table library
util/word32.sml      -- machine word utilities for two's complement interpretation

top/top.sml          -- top level function for export to binary and testing

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debugging Hints
------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can use

  - Top.test "--verbose --dump-ast --dump-ir --dump-assem file.l1";

to print information from all the phases of the current compiler.

If you want to see the internal representations, you can call directly
on SML's top level:

  - val ast = Parse.parse "file.l1";
  - val ir = Trans.translate ast;
  - val assem = Codegen.codgen ir;

This will use SML's internal printing function to print the data
structures.  However, not everything will show.

"-" means that the type is opaque.  Sometimes you can replace an opaque
    signature ascription ":>" with a transparent one ":" to see the info.
    For reasons of general hygiene, however, you should change it back
    before handing in.

"#" means that the printing depth is exceeded.  Use

      - Control.Print.printDepth := 100;

    to increase the depth if you need to see more.

"..." means that the printing length is exceeded.  Use

      - Control.Print.printLength := 1000;

    to increase the length if you need to see more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Library Hints
------------------------------------------------------------------------
See util/symbol.sml for some uses of libraries provided with SML/NJ
(and some other SML implementations).  BinaryMapFn and
BinarySetFn are likely of general use.  To see their interface,
you can check http://www.smlnj.org/doc/smlnj-lib/Manual/toc.html.
I found binary maps and binary sets to be occasionally helpful.