[Cardinal-dev] Compiler structure / AST format

[Einar Karttunen]

Hello

One of the first things we have to agree is a structure of the
compiler. The compiler should be modular and imho written in
Ruby. Also we should make the addition of multiple backends
possible later.

One possible and traditional structure would be like:
Lexer - I think this should be quite easy
Parser - should produse an AST used in the next stages
AST optimiser passes - can be added here later
Frontend translate AST into intermediate code
Optimiser pass - can be implemented later
Backend - translate the intermediate presentation into parrot code 

We have also to agree on the AST (=abstract syntax tree) format. 
Currently ruby uses a format with very many node types (see node.h)
which may be suboptimal.

- Einar Karttunen aka musasabi