Recent Advances in Compiler Generators: the LISA Approach Marjan Mernik

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Recent Advances in Compiler Generators the
LISA Approach Marjan Mernik

FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER
SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF MARIBOR
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Outline of the Presentation

• Gentle introduction to compiler generators
• Generation of language-based tools from language
  definition
• Modular, reusable and extensible language
  definition
• LISA tool

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How to specify a programming language?

• Using the natural language
• Advantages
• descriptions are understandable

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How to specify a programming language?

• Using the natural language
• Disadvantages
• lack of clarity,
• ambiguities,
• various interpretations.

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How to specify a programming language?

• Using a formal method
• Advantages
• syntax and the semantics are defined in a precise
  and unambiguous manner,
• possibility for automatic generation of compilers
  or interpreters,
• tool for programming language design
• Disadvantages
• required deep knowledge

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Formal methods for programming language definition

• Lexicon (regular definitions, FSA)
• Syntax (BNF)
• Semantics (axiomatic, attribute grammars,
  denotational, algebraic, structural
  operational/natural, action, abstract state
  machines, ....)

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Formal methods for programming language definition

• Possibility for automatic generation of compilers
  or interpreters
• Attribute Grammars Synthesizer Generator
• Denotational PSG
• Algebraic ASFSDF
• Structural operational/Natural Centaur
• Action ASD
• Abstract-state machines Gem-Mex

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Formal methods for programming language definition

• From formal language definitions many other
  language-based tools can be automatically
  generated, such as
• syntax-directed editors,
• type checkers,
• dataflow analyzers,
• partial evaluators,
• debuggers,
• test case generators,
• animators, etc.

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Formal methods for programming language definition

• The core language definitions have to be
  augmented or
• Just a part of formal language definitions is
  enough for automatic tool generation or
• Implicit information must be extracted from
  formal language definition

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Formal methods for programming language definition

• Automatic generation is possible whenever a tool
  can be built from a fixed part and a variable
  part and also the variable part, language
  dependent, has to be systematically derivable
  from the language specifications (Table 1).

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Table 1
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Table 1 (cont.)
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LISA ver. 1

• Developed 1994
• Mernik, Korbar, umer. LISA A Tool for Automatic
  Language Implementation, ACM Sigplan Notices,
  Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 71 79, 1995.

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LISA ver. 2.0

• LISA ver. 2.0 (joint work with M. Lenic, E.
  Avdicauevic)
• started in summer 1997
• finished in summer 2000
• Incremental language development
• Educational tool

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LISA ver. 2.0
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LISA ver. 2.0

• LISA tool demo
• Robot.lisa
• RobotTime.lisa
• RobotSpeed.lisa
• CleaningRobot.lisa

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LISA ver. 2.0

• LISA generates also other language-based tools
• Editors,
• Inspectors,
• visualizers/animators (Joint work with P.
  Henriques, M.J. Varanda Pereira from University
  of Minho)
• Debuggers (Joint work with J. Gray and H. Wu from
  University of Alabama at Birmingham)

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LISA ver. 2.0

• Language knowledgable editor Inspectors

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LISA ver. 2.0
Visualizer/Animator
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LISA ver. 2.0
Debugger
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LISA ver. 2.1

• LISA ver. 2.1 (joint work with D. Rebernak, P.
  Henriques, M.J. Varanda Pereira, D. da Cruz)
• started in 2005

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LISA ver. 2.1

• AspectLISA
• WebLISA
• http//www.cs.feri.uni-mb.si/
• VisualLISA

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LISA ver. 2.1

• http//marcel.uni-mb.si/lisa
• marjan.mernik_at_uni-mb.si
• mernik_at_cis.uab.edu