Re: what languages Ada 9X compilers are being written in

[news.crd.ge.com!e7sa!groleau@uunet.uu.net (Wes Groleau X7574)]

In article <C7GH0u.5o6@ddciiny.UUCP> jls@ddciiny.UUCP (Jonathan Schilling) writ
es:
>..... as a general rule (with notable exceptions I'm sure), compilers are 
>best if written in their own language.  First, it means the compiler developer
s
>will have a genuine "feel" for the language and its uses, rather than what
>.........

On the other hand, trying to write an Ada compiler in Ada has one quirk that
forces one to do something NOT typically done in Ada:  

I had to write a parser for a special-purpose language.  The easiest, most
readable way to read tokens for reserved words is to have an enumerated type
whose literals were all the reserved words, and read them with enumeration_io
and/or with RESERVED_WORD_TYPE'VALUE.  Unfortunately, some of the reserved
words are also Ada reserved words, so a few extra wierd string techniques had
to be used.  If the target language was actually Ada, the problem would
obviously be worse.