Final Project

		 Harvard Extension School CSCI E-95:
		  Compiler Design and Implementation

			      Spring 2025

			  Due: May 13, 2025

Based on all the work you have completed so far, your lexer from
Problem Set 1, your parser from Problem Set 2, your symbol table
management system from Problem Set 3, the type checker from Problem
Set 4, the intermediate code generator from Problem Set 5, and the
MIPS assembly code generator from Problem Set 6, enhance your compiler
by adding interesting optimizations.

Your final project will be the culmination of the semester's work on
the compiler.  The additional work for the final project will include
cleaning up, testing, and polishing the entire compiler.  This would
also be a good time to read over all of your code, complete those
components delayed for later completion, and add comments and
documentation to make your compiler more readable.

Specifically, for your final project you will be writing several
optimizations most of which will modify the linked list of IR nodes.
In class we have talked about many different optimizations and the
importance of ordering them appropriately.  You may also find that
your resulting code may benefit from performing some optimizations
more than once -- perhaps after other optimizations.  In addition,
some optimization may not be able to be performed at the IR level.
You are welcome to perform optimizations at those points in the
compilation process where it is most appropriate.  Part of the final
project is to select both an interesting selection of optimizations
and also those that will make a significant impact on the sample test
programs you will be compiling and demonstrating.  This is now your
chance to improve the unoptimized code generated by Problem Set 5!

All optimizations must be controlled by a command line switch.  The
capital-O switch ("-O") is required to be followed by an integer which
indicates the level of optimization to be performed, as follows:

    -O 0  perform no optimization (default behavior)
    -O 1  perform minimal optimization
    -O 2  perform slightly more optimization
    etc.

Your final project should include the source program to your compiler,
the output from the previous compiler stages (including the IR code
both before and after optimization), a printout of the MIPS code
produced by the code generation component, and a transcript of running
the MIPS code under SPIM.

It is particularly important for the final project to turn in a
submission the is cleanly coded, well-commented and well-documented,
includes a demonstration that your program works and has been tested.
Thus, the test programs you use as input and the output that your
compiler produces should be included with your other files.

We *will* be holding an elongated class during Final Exam Period (on
Tuesday night, May 13th) that will begin at 6:45 PM ET and will
encompass the time of both section and class.  This entire class
meeting will begin at 6:45 PM ET and will be held in Zoom lecture room
where class lectures are normally held.  During that final class
meeting on May 13th, each class member will be responsible for
presenting their compiler to the class.

Each student will be given fifteen minutes for their presentation.  To
keep our final presentations on track, you will create a ten minute
(timing will be enforced) pre-recorded audio and video of a
presentation of your compiler followed by a five minute question and
answer session.  We will be enforcing this time constraint.  Your
video presentation is a required part of your participation and grade
in the course.  Your video presentation must be available over the
Internet.  In advance of the class meeting -- by 4 PM ET on the day of
the presentations, all students should send to the course staff the
URL for their ten minute pre-recorded presentation.  For this event,
choose suitable programs to be compiled (the input to your compiler)
so that they demonstrate the capabilities of your compiler.  Also,
decide in advance which intermediate stage outputs and debugging
outputs are most appropriate to display in front of the class.  Show
how optimization has changed the assembly code that you produce and
its performance.  Of course, you should demonstrate any novel features
in your compiler.

All students may participate in the question and answer session via
Zoom.  We may have a number of guests joining us for the final class
meeting.

By Midnight ET on Friday, May 16th (i.e., midnight between Friday and
Saturday), each class member should submit (using git) a Final Project
report which will include the slides used during your presentation, a
final version of all of the fully-documented code in your compiler,
makefiles, test programs, etc.


			Last revised 16-Dec-24