Lambda the Ultimate

Automatically Generating the Back End of a Compiler Using Declarative Machine Descriptions[PDF]
By Joao Dias

Although I have proven that the general problem is undecidable, I show how, for machines of practical interest, to generate the back end of a compiler.
...
The largest machine-dependent component in a back end is the instruction
selector. Previous work has shown that it is difficult to generate a highquality
instruction selector. But by adopting the compiler architecture developed
by Davidson and Fraser (1984), I can generate a na¨ıve instruction
selector and rely upon a machine-independent optimizer to improve the machine
instructions. Unlike previous work, my generated back ends produce
code that is as good as the code produced by hand-written back ends.

The Code Generation 2009 Call for Speakers closes on Friday January 16th 2009. Accepted speakers have their conference fees waived.

Session proposals are sought covering topics such as:

• Tool and technology adoption
• Code Generation and Model Transformation tools and approaches
• Defining and implementing modelling languages
• Domain Analysis and Domain Engineering
• Language evolution and modularization
• Meta Modelling
• Runtime virtual machines versus direct code generation
• Software Product Lines and Software Factories

Visit the Code Generation 2009 web site for more information and to make a speaking submission.

Code Generation 2009 is sponsored by SoftFluent, itemis & NT/e and supported by OMG, IASA & ACCU.

The New York Time says Data Analysts Captivated by Power of R.

R is ... the name of a popular programming language used by a growing number of data analysts inside corporations and academia. It is becoming their lingua franca partly because data mining has entered a golden age, whether being used to set ad prices, find new drugs more quickly or fine-tune financial models. Companies as diverse as Google, Pfizer, Merck, Bank of America, the InterContinental Hotels Group and Shell use it.

Hmmm, "fine tune financial models". Does R stand for Recession?

More seriously, does data mining plus multi-core machines add up to an important language direction for the next few years? How well does R fare on such boxen?

More on R previously on LtU here and here.