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Operational semantics-directed compilers and machine architectures

Editor: Andrew W. Appel Author:

John HannanAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems (TOPLAS), Volume 16, Issue 4

Pages 1215 - 1247

https://doi.org/10.1145/183432.183458

Published: 01 July 1994 Publication History

Abstract

We consider the task of automatically constructing intermediate-level machine architectures and compilers generating code for these architectures, given operational semantics for source languages. We use operational semantics in the form of abstract machines given by rewrite systems in which the rewrite rules operate on terms representing states of computations. To construct compilers and new architectures we employ a particular strategy called pass separation, a form of staging transformation, that takes a program p and constructs a pair of programs p₁, p₂ such that p(x, y) = p₂(p₁(x), y)) for all x,y. If p represents an operational semantics for a language, with arguments x and y denoting a source program and its input data, then pass separation constructs programs p₁ and p₂ corresponding to a compiler and an executor.

The compiler translates the source language into an intermediate-level target language, and the executor provides the definition for this language. Our use of pass separation supports the automatic definition of target languages or architectures, and the structure of these architectures is directed by the structure of the given source semantics. These architectures resemble abstract machine languages found in hand-crafted compilers. Our method is restricted to a limited class of abstract machines given as term-rewriting systems, but we argue that this class encompasses a large set of language definitions derived from more natural operational semantics. We provide two examples of our method by constructing compilers and target architectures for a simple functional language and a simple imperative language. Though we construct these architectures automatically, they bear a striking resemblance to existing architectures constructed by hand.

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Cited By

Prout AAtlee JDay NShaker P(2012)Code generation for a family of executable modelling notationsSoftware and Systems Modeling (SoSyM)10.1007/s10270-010-0176-611:2(251-272)Online publication date: 1-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10270-010-0176-6
Prasad SArun-Kumar S(2010)An Introduction to Operational SemanticsThe Compiler Design Handbook10.1201/9781420040579.ch22Online publication date: 7-Mar-2010
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420040579.ch22
Prout AAtlee JDay NShaker P(2008)Semantically Configurable Code GenerationProceedings of the 11th international conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems10.1007/978-3-540-87875-9_49(705-720)Online publication date: 28-Sep-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-540-87875-9_49
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Index Terms

Operational semantics-directed compilers and machine architectures
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. Compilers
      1. Translator writing systems and compiler generators
    2. Formal language definitions
      1. Semantics
2. Theory of computation
  1. Semantics and reasoning
    1. Program semantics
      1. Operational semantics

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Information

Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems

ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems Volume 16, Issue 4

July 1994

318 pages

ISSN:0164-0925

EISSN:1558-4593

DOI:10.1145/183432

Editor:
Andrew W. Appel
Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 1994 ACM.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 July 1994

Published in TOPLAS Volume 16, Issue 4

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Cited By

Prout AAtlee JDay NShaker P(2012)Code generation for a family of executable modelling notationsSoftware and Systems Modeling (SoSyM)10.1007/s10270-010-0176-611:2(251-272)Online publication date: 1-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10270-010-0176-6
Prasad SArun-Kumar S(2010)An Introduction to Operational SemanticsThe Compiler Design Handbook10.1201/9781420040579.ch22Online publication date: 7-Mar-2010
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420040579.ch22
Prout AAtlee JDay NShaker P(2008)Semantically Configurable Code GenerationProceedings of the 11th international conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems10.1007/978-3-540-87875-9_49(705-720)Online publication date: 28-Sep-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-540-87875-9_49
Biernacki DDanvy O(2004)From Interpreter to Logic Engine by DefunctionalizationLogic Based Program Synthesis and Transformation10.1007/978-3-540-25938-1_13(143-159)Online publication date: 2004
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-25938-1_13
Diehl S(2003)Specializing Visualization AlgorithmsData Visualization10.1007/978-1-4615-1177-9_5(67-75)Online publication date: 2003
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1177-9_5
Diehl SSestoft P(2000)Abstract machines for programming language implementationFuture Generation Computer Systems10.1016/S0167-739X(99)00088-616:7(739-751)Online publication date: 1-May-2000
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/S0167-739X%2899%2900088-6
Diehl S(2000)A generative methodology for the design of abstract machinesScience of Computer Programming10.1016/S0167-6423(99)00047-738:1-3(125-142)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2000
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/S0167-6423%2899%2900047-7
Mountjoy JHartel PCorporaal H(1997)Modular Operational Semantic Specification of Transport Triggered ArchitecturesHardware Description Languages and their Applications10.1007/978-0-387-35064-6_22(260-279)Online publication date: 1997
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35064-6_22

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