Outline of a roadmap for compiler technology
David Padua · IEEE Computational Science and Engineering · 1996
Compiler technology has been a major subfield of computer science ever since the first compilers were developed in the late 1950s. Compilers made possible the development of today's efficient and sophisticated software at an affordable cost, thus playing a crucial role in popularizing computers. Though we have learned much over 40 years about compiler development tools, internal compiler organization, parsing techniques, and optimization algorithms, sustained progress in computer usability and performance will require much more research in this area. The paper discusses a few important challenges in compiler technology.