CSC_52064 : Compilation

Year 2025-26

Introduction

This course is an introduction to compilation. It explains the techniques and tools used in the different phases of a compiler, up to the production of optimized assembly code.

course overview

Lectures

In amphi Poisson PC 21 (14:00-16:00).

Introduction (5 jan 2026)
- in English
- en français
Lecture 1 (5 jan 2026) : x86-64 assembly
- in English
- en français
Lecture 2 (12 jan 2026) : abstract syntax, semantics, interpreters
Lecture 3 (jeudi 22 jan 2026) : parsing
Lecture 4 (26 jan 2026) : static typing
Lecture 5 (2 feb 2026) : passing modes
Lecture 6 (9 feb 2026) : OO and functional languages
Lecture 7 (16 feb 2026) : optimizing compiler 1/2
Lecture 8 (23 feb 2026) : optimizing compiler 2/2
Lecture 9 (9 mar 2026) : memory allocation

Labs

In rooms 32 and 33 (16:15-18:15).

lab 1: x86-64 assembly
- in English
- en français
lab 2: mini-Python interpreter
- in English
- en français

Project

Will be given later.

Exam

Pen and paper exam on Monday 16 March, from 2pm to 5pm. (Room to be determined.)

Past exams:

March 2025: exam / solution
March 2024 : exam / solution
March 2023 : sujet / corrigé (in French)
March 2022 : sujet / corrigé (in French)
March 2021 : sujet / corrigé (in French)

Resources

For the labs and the project, you'll have

to compile x86-64 assembly code (lab 1 + end of project) ;
to compile OCaml code (lab 2 and beyond).

Here are some resources.

x86-64 assembly
- compile your assembly code using a C compiler, such as gcc; see the instructions at the beginning of lab 1
- there are resources on this page by Andrew Tolmach and notably these handy notes
- the fascicle x86-64 Machine-Level Programming by Bryant and O'Hallaron
- the gdb debugger can be used with x86-64 assembly code (step by step execution, register display, etc.); see this tutorial
- Compiler Explorer is the best way to inspect the code generated by compilers
OCaml
- to use OCaml in X salles info or on your machine, here are some instructions to set up OCaml
- book : Learn Programming with OCaml
- plenty of resources at ocaml.org
- ocamllex documentation
- Menhir, a LR(1) parser generator for OCaml (to be preferred to ocamlyacc) (manual)
The Linux command line for beginners

Reference cards

OCaml: language / standard library / tools
Emacs : general / Tuareg mode for OCaml

Books related to this course

Alfred V. Aho, Monica S. Lam, Ravi Sethi et Jeffrey D. Ullman Modern Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (aka ``the dragon'')
Benjamin C. Pierce Types and Programming Languages
Randal E. Bryant et David R. O'Hallaron Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective

The three of them are available at the BCX. The course is not based on these books. Yet they are very nice books, highly relevant to go further.

Dictionary

a tiny French-English dictionary (also in the appendix of the lecture notes)

Many thanks to Léon Gondelman and Mário Pereira for their help in the preparation of this course.