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A compiler is likely to perform some or all of the following operations, often called phases: preprocessing, lexical analysis, parsing, semantic analysis (syntax-directed translation), conversion of input programs to an intermediate representation, code optimization and machine specific code generation.
The earliest published JIT compiler is generally attributed to work on LISP by John McCarthy in 1960. [4] In his seminal paper Recursive functions of symbolic expressions and their computation by machine, Part I, he mentions functions that are translated during runtime, thereby sparing the need to save the compiler output to punch cards [5] (although this would be more accurately known as a ...
Most compilers are organized into three stages: a front end, an optimizer, and a back end. The front end is responsible for understanding the program. It makes sure a program is valid and transforms it into an intermediate representation, a data structure used by the compiler to represent
Most compilers have at least the following compiler phases (which therefore occur at compile-time): syntax analysis, semantic analysis, and code generation.During optimization phases, constant expressions in the source code can also be evaluated at compile-time using compile-time execution, which reduces the constant expressions to a single value.
A tracing JIT compiler goes through various phases at runtime. First, profiling information for loops is collected. After a hot loop has been identified, a special tracing phase is entered, which records all executed operations of that loop. This sequence of operations is called a trace.
When code generation occurs at runtime, as in just-in-time compilation (JIT), it is important that the entire process be efficient with respect to space and time. For example, when regular expressions are interpreted and used to generate code at runtime, a non-deterministic finite-state machine is often generated instead of a deterministic one, because usually the former can be created more ...
A multi-pass compiler is a type of compiler that processes the source code or abstract syntax tree of a program several times. This is in contrast to a one-pass compiler, which traverses the program only once. Each pass takes the result of the previous pass as the input, and creates an intermediate output.
Program lifecycle phases are the stages a computer program undergoes, from initial creation to deployment and execution. The phases are edit time, compile time, link time, distribution time, installation time, load time, and run time. Lifecycle phases do not necessarily happen in a linear order, and they can be intertwined in various ways.