Compiler Design Practice Exam
Compiler Design Practice Exam
About Compiler Design Exam
The Compiler Design Practice Exam is designed to test your ability to understand and build the key parts of a compiler. This practice exam measures your skills in turning source code into executable code, from tokenising input to generating optimized machine code. Whether you are a student learning compilers or a developer preparing for interviews, this exam will help you identify your strengths and areas to improve.
Who should take the Exam?
- Computer science students studying compiler courses
- Software developers interested in programming languages
- Engineers preparing for technical interviews
- Tool builders working on interpreters or compilers
- CS graduates wanting to deepen compiler knowledge
- Anyone aiming to master compiler design concepts
Skills Required
- Basic programming skills in C, Java or similar
- Understanding of data structures like trees and graphs
- Familiarity with regular expressions and automata
- Knowledge of formal grammars and language theory
- Ability to write clear, logical code
Knowledge Gained
- How to build a lexer that converts code into tokens
- Techniques to create parsers for syntax analysis
- Methods for semantic checks and symbol table use
- Steps to generate and optimise intermediate code
- Ways to map intermediate code to machine instructions
- Understanding of register allocation and calling conventions
- How to manage memory and runtime environments
- Use of tools like lex/flex and yacc/bison in compiler projects
Course Outline
The Compiler Design Exam covers the following topics -
Domain 1 – Lexical Analysis
- Role of lexical analysis in the compiler pipeline
- Regular expressions and finite automata
- Defining tokens and recognising patterns
- Handling lexical errors and warnings
Domain 2 – Syntax Analysis
- Context-free grammars and parse tree concepts
- Top-down parsing (LL) and recursive descent methods
- Bottom-up parsing (LR) and shift-reduce parsing
- Grammar transformations: removing left recursion and left factoring
- Using parser generators for automation
Domain 3 – Semantic Analysis
- Syntax-directed translation schemes
- Designing and managing symbol tables
- Type checking and type inference techniques
- Defining semantic rules with attribute grammars
- Detecting and reporting semantic errors
Domain 4 – Intermediate Code Generation
- Representing code as three-address instructions
- Building control flow graphs and basic blocks
- Translating expressions and statements
- Generating intermediate code for loops and branches
Domain 5 – Code Optimization
- Local versus global optimization strategies
- Data-flow analysis and live variable analysis
- Loop optimizations: unrolling and invariant code motion
- Eliminating dead code and applying strength reduction
Domain 6 – Code Generation
- Mapping intermediate instructions to machine code
- Register allocation and assignment techniques
- Instruction selection and scheduling
- Implementing calling conventions and stack frames
Domain 7 – Runtime Environments
- Structure of activation records and call stack
- Memory layout for static, stack and heap data
- Linking, loading and symbol resolution
- Support for error handling and debugging
Domain 8 – Compiler Tools and Advanced Topics
- Using lex/flex for lexical analysis
- Using yacc/bison for parser generation
- Introduction to just-in-time compilation and interpreters
- Case studies of real-world compiler architectures
