The “From Source Code to Machine Code” book is finished

Compilers are a fascinating topic. You use them every day. They turn your textual source code into some binary magic executed by computers.

It is often said that learning C leads to a better understanding of computers. What’s even better than just learning C is learning compilers and assembly, because even after learning C, the machine and the compiler may still seem like black boxes to you.

Compiler construction is a subject included in computer science and software engineering education. However, many of today’s (2023+) coders do not have a formal CS education. Basic things such as compilers, databases, operating systems, etc. are often seen as magical black boxes. That’s why I started the “Build Your Own X” book series. To learn and teach basic things by the “from scratch” approach, through succinct & condensed books.

The first step to my compiler is a simple interpreter, which is a Python script that executes an S-expression (sexpr). It has variables, control flows, and functions, which is sufficient to write programs in. The syntax looks like this:

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