Writing a Compiler

Writing a compiler is a very good practice for learning how complex problems could be solved using methods from software engineering. It is extremely important to program rather carefully and exactly, because we have to remember that a compiler is a program which has to handle an input that is usually incorrect. Therefore, the compiler itself must be error-free. Referring to Niklaus Wirth, we postulate that the grammatical structure of a language must be reflected in the structure of the compiler. Thus, the complexity of a language determines the complexity of the compiler (cf. Compilerbau. B. G. Teubner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1986).