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The Compiler


Conceptually, a compiler operates in phases, each of which transforms the source program from one representation to another. Often, some of the phases may be grouped together and the intermediate representation between the grouped phases need not be explicitly constructed.

The first three phases of a compiler, forming the bulk of the analysis portion is often called front end. The front end consist of those phases that depend primarily on the source language and are largely independent of the target language. This front end normally includes lexical and syntactic analysis, the creation of the symbol table, semantic analysis and the generation of intermediate code.

The last phases of a compiler, the back end, include those portions of a compiler that depend on the target language. In the back end, one will find code optimization, code generation along with the necessary error handling and symbol-table operation.

This chapter will discuss and explain the concept of the front end thoroughly. The back end will be mentioned just for completeness. The reason for this is quite obvious:

TTCN Access is the front end to a TTCN compiler.


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