Episode: 4296
Title: HPR4296: Crafting Interpreters
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr4296/hpr4296.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-25 22:36:52

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This is Hacker Public Radio Episode 4296 for Monday the 20th of January 2025.
Today's show is entitled Crafting Interpreters.
It is the first show buying you host Iota and is about two minutes long.
It carries a clean flag.
The summary is, Talk About the Book Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nistrom.
Hello, this is Iota speaking.
Today I would like to talk about the book Crafting Interpreters by Robert Limpstrom.
I have a passion for interpreters and compilers for a long time and always like the right one.
But never succeed.
I've read a lot of books about interpreters and compilers but never able to finish it.
Crafting interpreters is the first book I read cover to cover and understand it and I'm
able to follow through all the coding and build an interpreter as well as a compiler.
It is amazing.
The first half of the book is to build a three-talking working interpreter in Java.
The second half of the book is to build a bytecode compiler in C. Both of them are for
a programming language the other called LOX-L-O-X.
The book is smart because it is based on generic Java and C code and does not specify any
IDE or make file to use.
You will have to figure out that yourself.
That may sound like a hurdle but in fact it is a blessing.
That makes the code to the book very portable.
The author has a way to explain compiler concepts in an interesting way.
The bytecode compiler in the second half of the book implements the following features.
Virtual machine, closure, class and methods, garbage, collector, etc.
The book cover itself is already very revealing.
It is basically a high-level view of the different passes and types of congeneration.
You can buy the book in different places, both physical copy or e-book.
However, the book is also available for free at craftinginterpreters.com.
I would say this book is a labor of love by the author, highly recommended.
Iota signing off.
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