Re: writing a compilers

On May 12, 8:08 pm, "cr88192" <cr88...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

0) Introduction to programming
1) Software engineering
2) Algorithms and Data Structures
3) Automata Theory (Formal Language Theory)
4) Programming Language Design

Of course, you *don't* need to take *classes* to learn these subjects,
but I've definitely found that people who try to learn these subjects
on their own (especially the Automata Theory subject) tend to skim
over important material without realizing its importance to compiler
design and implementation.

this only assumes that one is around a college that even teaches these kind
of subjects.

Clearly if you go to a college that does not teach these subjects, and
these are the subjects you want to learn, you're wasting your time. I
wouldn't go to a business institute, for example, to learn computer
science.


Yes, you *can* just hack a compiler out without really knowing what
you're doing. Several of the "hobby level" assemblers you see for the
x86 were written in exactly this manner. If all you want to do is play
around with compiler design and implementation, this might be an
acceptable approach to you. If you want to produce a commercial-
quality tool that you can be proud of, then I would reconsider
investing in your education.

well, all this just assumes one has a college in their area that doesn't
suck.


If you really want to learn the subject, then go to a college outside
their area. People do it all the time :-) Heck most college students
I've met wanted to go to a college outside their area just to get away
from their parents. :-)


after sitting around some of this crap:
a few computer classes where the professor spends the whole semester
reminiscing over the past few decades and his amazing experiences admin'ing
the college's AS/400 (or about 'this one time' where a rat went and ate the
arcnet cable going between the buildings...).

Just because you've gone to a school where the IT curriculum was bad
does not suggest that getting a proper education isn't the best way to
learn how to write compilers. If you really want to learn the subject,
check out the schools that provide reasonable curriculum and transfer
there. If a school uses an AS/400 as their teaching platform, I can
almost guarantee you that their computer curriculum is a business-
oriented IT program and it's likely they will *not* be teaching decent
compiler construction courses there. No, I wouldn't expect an entering
freshman to realize this (most freshmen don't realize they'd ever want
to write a compiler, quite honestly), but I wouldn't make general
sweeping claims about CS curriculum just because you've attended a
school that doesn't have a decent CS program.



the whole occurance that one doesn't even have to work, they pass just by
attendence, me observing that most of the students spent the whole semester
ignoring the professor (one student going as far as to watch hentai with his
hand down his pants, ...).

actually, many of my classes, simply, didn't have HW, one passed either by
attendence, or maybe 1 or 2 tests, during the whole damn thing...

I passed calculus this way as well, didn't do any HW, as the teacher didn't
actually bother grading it, did the final, got the highest grade in the
class (I think).

You get out of your education in direct proportion to what you put
into it. What more can I say? The real purpose of school is to force
you to take the courses you wouldn't otherwise take and to make you
work on assignments you wouldn't otherwise do. Otherwise, students
would miss out on lots of important material. Yup, much of the
"general" coursework is useless. I, for one, have never used much of
the calculus I learned as an undergraduate. OTOH, there have been many
subjects whose material I *have* found useful, even though I thought
the stuff was useless when I was taking the course.



then they force off on the students RPG2 and COBOL (the next required
classes for my major), along with the typical required using "ms-office"
classes.

Again, you're not taking real CS courses. Transfer to a school that
does teach them.


I think the available programming classes were this:
RPG2 COBOL VB C FORTRAN (can't remember, I think there was maybe also a
class for PL/I).

See the above comment.


as is typical, it seems VB, COBOL, and MS-Office were taught by one teacher,
with C, FORTRAN, RPG2, and PL/I by the other.

as is usual, these were 1-semester (only) classes, and I guess more an
"overview of" the languages, rather than anything more.

AFAIK, in all these classes, they were taught by having the students log
into the school's AS/400, and code that way. this was, totally lame (also
annoying was that the terminal connections kept dying, and that the UI was
very fussy...). yay, textmode; yay, forms...

Yes, I agree. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that they use an AS/400
and teach COBOL and RPG tells me that it is a business-oriented IT
program, *not* a CS program.



it is like FFS, they could have at least had the students use notepad and
cygwin or something.

after a semester, I got damn tired about hearing about the AS/400 (this
wasn't even the topic of the class, actually, I had another class with that
professor, and he spent that class obsessing on it as well), or worse yet,
being expected to actually use the thing (I didn't like it personally, UI
totally lame, would rather just SSH into a linux box or something...).

You were enrolled in the wrong program. What can I say? Clearly other
programs exist that teach the subjects you want to learn in a way you
want to learn them.


oh yeah, win98 sucks as well (them still using it).

going through this the next few semesters, could have got a CS degree this
way. parents moved me to a different college though (a bible college...).

I say with all this, apart from socializing, college is about useless.

or such

I'm sure I'd have that attitude too if I went to your school. No
doubt, you'd have a better attitude about school if you attented
somewhere else. And I doubt a Bible college is going to have a great
CS program (some do, but it's rare). They're more about teaching
"higher-level" subjects. :-)
hLater,
Randy Hyde

.

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