From: ast@halcyon.com (Andrew Tucker)
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Subject: why did you chose compiler development?
Date: 22 May 1997 22:14:00 -0400
Organization: Northwest Nexus, Inc.

I just quit my current job to take my first compiler development position. In
doing so, lots of people have asked me why I want to get into compiler
development and it has made me think about it. I have my standard reasons
(listed below), but I wonder what makes you enjoy this area?

My reasons:

1) It was the most interesting (and challenging) part of my undergrad work.
I'll never forget the prof I had -- he influenced my career substantially.

2) It is the very essence of programming. The better you understand how
language recognition and translation works, the better your coding and
debugging skills become.

3) It is the very picture of module coupling and cohesion. Breaking down the
process into front/middle/back ends and making each one independent of each
other is a textbook case that predates the ideas from structured design.

4) It has a rich history and some of the most famous computer scientists (ie
Knuth, Grace Hopper, Turing) have made significant contributions.

5) It spans lots of fundamental CS areas, including data structures,
computability and complexity theory, hardware, algorithms, and discrete
mathematics.

6) There are wide and deep mainstream applications. Aside from the obvious
language compilers, there are macro interpreters, SQL, conversion utilities,
configuration files, digital design...

WWW: http://www.halcyon.com/ast