Writing a compiler is a very good practice for learning how complex problems could be solved using methods from software engineering. It is extremely important to program rather carefully and exactly, because we have to remember that a compiler is a program which has to handle an input that is usually incorrect. Therefore, the compiler itself must be error-free. Referring to Niklaus Wirth, we postulate that the grammatical structure of a language must be reflected in the structure of the compiler. Thus, the complexity of a language determines the complexity of the compiler (cf. Compilerbau. B. G. Teubner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1986). This book is about the translation of programs written in a high level programming language into machine code. It deals with all the major aspects of compilation systems (including a lot of examples and exercises), and was outlined for a one session course on compilers. The book can be used both as a teacher's reference and as a student's text book. In contrast to some other books on that topic, this text is rather concentrated to the point. However, it treats all aspects which are necessary to understand how compilation systems will work. Chapter One gives an introductory survey of compilers. Different types of compilation systems are explained, a general compiler environment is shown, and the principle phases of a compiler are introduced in an informal way to sensitize the reader for the topic of compilers.

Beside the computers itself, programming languages are the most important tools of a computer scientist, because they allow the formulation of algorithms in a way that a computer can perform the desired actions. Without the availability of (high level) languages it would simply be impossible to solve complex problems by using computers. Therefore, high level programming languages form a central topic in Computer Science. It should be a must for every student of Computer Science to take a course on the organization and structure of programming languages, since the knowledge about the design of the various programming languages as well as the understanding of certain compilation techniques can support the decision to choose the right language for a particular problem or application. This book is about high level programming languages. It deals with all the major aspects of programming languages (including a lot of examples and exercises). Therefore, the book does not give an detailed introduction to a certain program ming language (for this it is referred to the original language reports), but it explains the most important features of certain programming languages using those pro gramming languages to exemplify the problems. The book was outlined for a one session course on programming languages. It can be used both as a teacher's ref erence as well as a student text book."