computer science

Principles of Compiler Design

Principles of Compiler Design is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Principles of Compiler Design rather than just read about it. In short: Principles of Compiler Design, by Alfred Aho and Jeffrey Ullman, is a classic textbook on compilers for computer programming languages. Both of the authors won the 2020 Turing Award for their work on compilers.

Key takeaways

Principles of Compiler Design belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Principles of Compiler Design to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Principles of Compiler Design from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Principles of Compiler Design, by Alfred Aho and Jeffrey Ullman, is a classic textbook on compilers for computer programming languages. Both of the authors won the 2020 Turing Award for their work on compilers. It is often called the "green dragon book" and its cover depicts a knight and a dragon in battle; the dragon is green, and labeled "Complexity of Compiler Design", while the knight wields a lance and a shield labeled "LALR parser generator" and "Syntax Directed Translation" respectively, and rides a horse labeled "Data Flow Analysis". The book may be called the "green dragon book" to distinguish it from its successor, Aho, Sethi and Ullman's Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools, which is the "red dragon book". The second edition of Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools added a fourth author, Monica S. Lam, and the dragon became purple; hence becoming the "purple dragon book". The book also contains the entire code for making a compiler. The back cover offers the original inspiration of the cover design: The dragon is replaced by windmills, and the knight is Don Quixote. The book was published in 1977 by Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-00022-9. The acknowledgments mention that the book was entirely typeset at Bell Labs using troff on the Unix operating system, little of which had, at that time, been seen outside the Laboratories.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Principles of Compiler Design

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Principles of Compiler Design claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Principles of Compiler Design before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Principles of Compiler Design ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Principles of Compiler Design

In research: Principles of Compiler Design appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Principles of Compiler Design in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Principles of Compiler Design is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1977 non-fiction books, Addison-Wesley books, Compiler construction, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Principles of Compiler Design outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Principles of Compiler Design in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Principles of Compiler Design means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Principles of Compiler Design out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Principles of Compiler Design in simple terms?

Why does Principles of Compiler Design matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Principles of Compiler Design?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Principles of Compiler Design.