Reputation:
upcoming summer i will hopefully start writing my masters thesis and i have been quite busy looking for a thesis subject. I now have a pool of subjects that i am interested in and the one that struck me most is the implementation of a global register allocator for the tiny C compiler (graph coloring or linear scan).
So i wanted to drop by and ask if any of you has ever done this and if it is a feasible subject for a master thesis, or if it is too hard. I would also be very happy if you could direct me to any good literature about this subject(i already have the dragonbook).
Upvotes: 1
Views: 197
Reputation: 9652
I have done some register allocation for a much easier language than C (for an undergraduate compilers course). It was pretty hard for me, but I didn't have much time. I would say your project is feasible for a master thesis.
An excellent book to read for compiler design and especially optimizations (including register allocation) is Advanced Compiler Design & Implementation.
Upvotes: 2
Reputation: 75625
You should ask your tutor, not the internet in general!
Whatever your thesis, you need:
Its not fun to mess it up and grade poorly. Its not cheap - or perhaps not even possible - to do it all again.
You have a few months before the thesis starts. I'd say that you can lightly do a global reg allocator if you do a practice run now.
But whatever your thesis subject, you need to be committed.
Upvotes: 2