[antlr-interest] Building own interpreter

[Cliff Hudson]

If you decide to go the compiled route, also consider just writing a
translator from your language to a compiled one, such as C or C++.  Then you
don't have to implement a compiler at all which will save you a ton of time.


On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 12:09 PM, Andreas Stefik <stefika at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> >> >
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> >
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