The evolution of compilers

The term compiler was coined in the late forties, by Grace Murray Hopper, a pioneer who rose to the challenges of programming the first computers. The problem of translation from a source language into a target language was viewed as a ‘compilation’ of a sequence of machine language subprograms selected from a library. In this article we briefly trace the evolution of compilers from their beginnings as huge sprawling algorithms in the early fifties, to their current elegant, phase ordered forms. Priti Shankar is with the Department of Computer Science and Automation at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Her interests are in theoretical computer science and error correcting codes.