[antlr-interest] Building own interpreter

[Andreas Stefik]

That's hard to answer without knowing context. Compilers are tricky
things. For example, you might make a simple evaluator that will
inevitably run very slowly, but do the job you need. Or, you might
make something that generates code that ultimately be compiled into
very fast C code to be compiled by a GCC compiler --- or who knows
what.

That's why I'm saying it depends on context. What problem are you
trying to solve with your DSL?

Stefik

On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 1:59 PM, William v Doorn <williamvdoorn at gmail.com> wrote:
> Andreas,
>
> Well, I can already execute some code and evaluate it, but is this really
> the way to do it? e.g. could I use this as interpreter, or do I need a fully
> different approach? (see the file I attached)
>
> Thanks
>
> William van Doorn
>
>
>
> 2010/4/9 Andreas Stefik <stefika at gmail.com>
>>
>> William,
>>
>> This is a complex question to answer, and it really depends on your
>> needs. For example, creating a whole compiler from scratch is
>> difficult, but possible. We have our own compiler (with an ANTLR front
>> end), that integrates our own custom language, called HOP, which is
>> basically a novice programming language we distribute to schools for
>> the blind. Our implementation is on sourceforge and is under GPL2, so
>> you are welcome to look at it (Search for "Sodbeans"). We also
>> integrate our custom compiler into NetBeans.
>>
>> On the other hand, if your needs allow it, you can also do things like
>> have your antlr grammar generate java byte code or assembly directly,
>> which is sometimes easier, again depending on what you need. And very
>> simple interpreters for very simple languages aren't too tough, if you
>> know what you are doing, and depending on your requirements.
>>
>> Hope that gives you some tips, at least. Short answer: Yes, it's
>> definitely possible, but it depends on your goals, and it's typically
>> not something you would bang out in a weekend.
>>
>> Andreas Stefik, Ph.D.
>> Department of Computer Science
>> Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 1:44 PM, William v Doorn <williamvdoorn at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Hello all,
>> >
>> > I've been reading the The definitive ANTLR book and I've made my own
>> > small
>> > language using the AST strcuture.
>> >
>> > Now I was wondering, is it hard to make my own compiler/interpeter for
>> > this?
>> > I can feed files and such to it, but how would I make my own
>> > interpreter/compiler?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > William van Doorn
>> >
>> > List: http://www.antlr.org/mailman/listinfo/antlr-interest
>> > Unsubscribe:
>> > http://www.antlr.org/mailman/options/antlr-interest/your-email-address
>> >
>
>