Good languages to write a compiler for

Question

I\'m thinking of writing a compiler in haskell, and just to gain some knowledge and experience, I will try to implement compilers for existing languages. Could someone give

Answer 1

Scheme is often used for this. There's even a tutorial called Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 hours for Haskell.

Answer 2

As far as I know one of the easiest languages to compile is Forth. I think it's quite achievable to write a compiler for Forth in Forth even for a relative novice.

Answer 3

Oberon-2. Like Lua has short context-free grammar.

P.S. Here you can find Oberon-2 compiler written in Objective Caml.

Answer 4

The simplest languages to write compilers for are existing "esoteric languages", like brainfuck, because they have the smallest instruction set and the simplest grammar. You can try your hand at a more complex language, but it's better to get the fundamentals down with something simple before moving any further.

Answer 5

PL/0 is a simple language that was created to teach compiler construction. Samuel Williams wrote a compiler for it in Python (along with a virtual machine) for the benefit of students: http://www.oriontransfer.co.nz/learn/pl0-language-tools/index

Answer 6

Pascal could be a good start - you can compile it in a single pass. A subset of Lisp might be useful in order to grasp the idea of the lambda lifting. ML or even a subset of Haskell might help you in understanding the type inference. Consider using LLVM as your back-end, it will save you some time on implementing boring stuff.