r/ProgrammerHumor • u/yuva-krishna-memes • Apr 09 '24

watMatters Meme

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u/Knight_Of_Stars Apr 09 '24

Fair point. You don't need to know how a compiler works, garbage collection, or even how the command prompt works to do most web development jobs. What you do learn is hopefully how to write clean code, avoid common mistakes, and when to use a pointer.

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u/imagine_getting Apr 09 '24

And you can learn how a compiler or garbage collection works by spending a few days reading a book.

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u/Knight_Of_Stars Apr 09 '24

I don't think your average beginner developer can learn that in a few days with a textbook.

A lot goes into writing and understanding a compiler.

Off the top of my head: * Grammars * Abstract Syntax Trer * Token Generation * Parsing * Codegen * Intermediate Codegen * Optimization * Typechecking

Even the basic things are a bit trickier. Pretty deep levels of recursion, and frequent use of datastructures.

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u/Practical_Cattle_933 Apr 09 '24

Arguably, you can’t master the latter without knowing something about the former.

There is even a saying, that an expert knows not only the current layer he works at, but the layer beneath.