This book shows how continuation-passing style is used as an intermediate representation to perform optimizations and program transformations. Continuations can be used to compile most programming languages. The method is illustrated in a compiler for the programming language Standard ML. Prior knowledge of ML, however, is not necessary, as the author carefully explains each concept as it arises. This is the first book to show how concepts from the theory of programming languages can be applied to the production of practical optimizing compilers for modern languages like ML. All the details of compiling are covered, including the interface to a runtime system and garbage collector.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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"I recommend the book to language designers and implementors specializing in the functional paradigm." F.G. Pagan, Computing Reviews
Book Description
This book shows how continuation-passing style is used as an intermediate representation on which to perform optimisations and program transformations. It will be essential reading for compiler writers in both industry and academe, as well as for students and researchers in programming language theory.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly readable, given the subject matter.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Compiling with Continuations (Hardcover)
This is a very nice little book, and I found it to be surprisingly readable. The book is nicely written. Standard ML is used to illustrate the technique of compiling a functional language using continuations as the primary intermediate representation. Lack of familiarity with ML is not particularly burdensome. I would like to have seen more discussion of other languages, though (Scheme?).
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book changed my life,
By
This review is from: Compiling with Continuations (Paperback)
I found this book while trying to build a interpreter for a distributed language. Appel's approach not only solved my immediate issues (a uniform means of procedure call in the presence of mobility) but opened my mind to the utility of continuations in many areas of CS. It was a real mind opener, and the explanations were clear enough that I could adopt this approach with little difficulty.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly relevant given its age,
By Brian L. (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Compiling with Continuations (Paperback)
This book was fantastic. It opened my mind to a different mindset towards the compilation process while at the same time demystifying many concepts that I had previously only partially understood.
It is clear, concise, well-written, and unusually approachable for its genre. That said, I recommend some familiarity with ML-family languages as a prerequisite for approaching the book. He does include an appendix that's supposed to explain ML, but there are plenty of subtleties that I would have easily missed if that were my only resource. This book doesn't discuss the front end of the compiler at all--there is no discussion of lexical analysis, parsing or type inference. If that's what you're after, look elsewhere. This is text is limited to the back end of the compiler. The biggest quibble that I have with it is that the code generation chapter used MIPS/MAX/SPARC/68020 for case studies. In today's climate, ARM/x86/LLVM would be far more relevant and practical. This is an unfortunate consequence of the age of the text.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
ML is a strict higher-order functional programming language with statically checked polymorphic types, garbage collection, and a complete formally defined semantics. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hoist phase, andalso eqlist, escaping function, spill phase, spilling algorithm, current exception handler, lambda language, floating registers, call with current continuation, spill record, closure pointer, asymptotic space complexity, continuation machine, linked closures, val declaration, cache effectiveness, closure sharing, denotable values, closure record, continuation expression, reachable values, generational garbage collection, loc list, flat closures, ref cells Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
ML is a strict higher-order functional programming language with statically checked polymorphic types, garbage collection, and a complete formally defined semantics. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hoist phase, andalso eqlist, escaping function, spill phase, spilling algorithm, current exception handler, lambda language, floating registers, call with current continuation, spill record, closure pointer, asymptotic space complexity, continuation machine, linked closures, val declaration, cache effectiveness, closure sharing, denotable values, closure record, continuation expression, reachable values, generational garbage collection, loc list, flat closures, ref cells Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Jersey New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 13
books:
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51
books
cite this book:
See all 51 books citing this book
- Communicating Sequential Processes (Prentice Hall International Series in Computing Science) by C.A.R. Hoare on page 215, and Back Matter
- Elements of Functional Programming (International Computer Science Series) by Chris Reade in Back Matter
- Denotational Semantics: A Methodology for Language Development by David A. Schmidt in Back Matter
- The Design of an Optimizing Compiler by William Allan Wulf in Back Matter
- MIPS RISC Architecture (2nd Edition) by Gerry Kane in Back Matter
See all 13 books this book cites
- Programming Language Implementation and Logic Programming: 6th International Symposium, PLILP '94, Madrid, Spain, September 14 - 16, 1994. Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) by Manuel Hermenegildo on page 87, page 131, and page 213
- Static Analysis: First International Static Analysis Symposium, SAS '94, Namur, Belgium, September 28 - 30, 1994. Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) by Baudouin LeCharlier on page 160, and page 252
- Modern Compiler Implementation in Java by Andrew W. Appel in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Functional and Logic Programming: 5th International Symposium, FLOPS 2001, Tokyo, Japan, March 7-9, 2001. Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) by Herbert Kuchen on page 91
- Compiler Construction: Principles and Practice by Kenneth C. Louden in Back Matter
See all 51 books citing this book
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