XPost: news.answers   
   From: compilers-request@iecc.com   
      
   Archive-name: compilers/faq   
   Last-modified: $Date: 2007/04/01 17:50:03 $   
      
   This is the comp.compilers monthly message.  Changes since last month are   
   indicated by the usual marks in the right margin.   
      
   Contents:   
      
   -- What is comp.compilers?   
   -- How do I receive it?   
   -- How do I submit a message?   
   -- What happens to submitted messages?   
   -- What message formats are appropriate?   
   -- What topics are and aren't appropriate?   
   -- Are help-wanted messages allowed?   
   -- Why wasn't my message posted?   
   -- How do I respond to the author of a message?   
   -- How do I contact the moderator?   
   -- Are back issues available?   
      
   -- Some Frequently Asked Questions:   
      
   * Where can I get a C or C++ grammar in yacc?   
   * Where can I get the Gnu C compiler?   
   * Are there other free C compilers?   
   * Where can I get a free compiler for MS Windows?   
   * Where can I get a Fortran grammar in yacc or a Fortran compiler?   
   * Where can I get Modula-2, Pascal, Ada, or SQL grammars in yacc?   
   * Where can I get a Cobol grammar in yacc?   
   * Where can I get a Basic grammar in yacc?   
   * Where can I get a QBasic compiler?   
   * Where can I get a PL/I or PL/M grammar?   
   * What other sources of grammars are available?   
   * Where can I get free versions of yacc and lex ?   
   * Are there versions of yacc and lex for MS-DOS?   
   * Are there C++ or Pascal versions of yacc and lex?   
   * What other compilers and tools are freely available?   
   * How can I get started with yacc and lex and compiler writing in general?   
   * Where can I FTP the sources to the programs in Holub's "Compiler   
     Design in C" or Mak's "Writing Compilers and Interpreters" ?   
   * Where can I learn about garbage collection ?   
   * Where can I find specs for Intel object files?   
      
   -- What is comp.compilers?   
      
   It is a moderated usenet news group addressing the topics of compilers in   
   particular and programming language design and implementation in general.   
   It started in 1986 as a moderated mailing list, but interest quickly grew to   
   the point where it was promoted to a news group.  Recent topics have   
   included optimization techniques, language design issues, announcements of   
   new compiler tools, and book reviews.   
      
   Messages come from a wide variety of people ranging from undergraduate   
   students to well-known experts in industry and academia.  Authors live all   
   over the world -- there are regular messages from the U.S, Canada, Europe,   
   Australia, and Japan, with occasional ones from as far away as Malaysia.   
   I cannot tell how large the readership is, since the anarchic nature of   
   usenet makes it impossible to tell who reads it, but a reasonable guess is   
   that the total is over 100,000, which would make it by far the most widely   
   read medium on the topic in the world.   
      
   Unless there is specific language to the contrary, each message represents   
   only the personal opinion of its author.  I claim no compilation copyright on   
   comp.compilers.  As far as I am concerned, anyone can reproduce any message   
   for any purpose.  Individual authors may retain rights to their messages,   
   although I will not knowingly post anything that does not permit unlimited   
   distribution in any form.  If you find comp.compilers useful in writing a   
   book, producing a product, etc., I would appreciate an acknowledgement of   
   usenet and comp.compilers.   
      
   -- How do I receive it?   
      
   The easiest way is to read comp.compilers on a system that gets usenet news.   
      
   If you don't have access to usenet news, it's also available via   
   E-mail via a Majordomo mailing list.  To subscribe, a person should   
   send e-mail to majordomo@lists.iecc.com with one line in the mail   
   message (not in the subject!)  That line should read:   
      
   	subscribe compilers   
      
   If you want to get daily digests rather than individual messages,   
   send this instead:   
      
   	subscribe-set compilers digest   
      
   You will get a confirmation message that you have to read and respond to   
   in order to complete your subscription.   
      
   To get off the list the subscriber should send e-mail to the same address   
   with this message:   
      
   	unsubscribe compilers   
      
   If you have problems getting on or off the list, please contact me.  In   
   particular, if you want to use an address other than your own personal mail   
   address, you have to ask me to set it up.  If I receive bounce messages for   
   an address on the mailing list for ten messages in a row, it's   
   automatically deleted.  If this happens to you and your address   
   subsequently becomes reachable again, you can resubscribe.   
      
   -- How do I submit a message?   
      
   Mail it to compilers@iecc.com.  I review messages nearly every day, usually   
   including weekends, and most messages are posted to the net within a day after   
   I receive them.  Occasionally when I go out of town there may be up to a   
   week's delay, though I try to send out a message when that will happen.   
      
   Most net news systems will automatically turn posted messages into   
   mail to compilers, but some don't do that correctly.  Please mail your   
   contributions unless you're sure your posting software works   
   correctly.   
      
   When you send a message to compilers, I understand that to mean that you   
   want me to post it to usenet, which means it will be sent to tens of   
   thousands of potential readers at thousands of computers all around the   
   world.  It may also appear in a printed comp.compilers annual and other   
   books, in printed journals, in on-line and off-line archives, CD-ROMs, and   
   anywhere else that some reader decides to use it.   
      
   If you don't want me to post something, send it instead to compilers-request.   
   (See below.)   
      
   -- What happens to submitted messages?   
      
   Barring mail problems, they arrive in a special mailbox here at iecc, which   
   sends an automated confirmation message that each has been received.  If   
   they're appropriate to post, I then edit them a little, remove cute   
   signatures, and then post them to usenet.  If I think a message needs more   
   editing than that but is otherwise worth posting, I return it to the author   
   for rewriting.  Other messages are discarded (see below.)   
      
   If I see that the automatically generated confirmation message bounced, I   
   discard the message.  If you want your messages to be posted, please be   
   sure the From: or Reply-To: line contains your correct e-mail address.   
      
   -- What message formats are appropriate?   
      
   Plain old ASCII.  No MIME, uuencoded, zipped, LaTeX, HTML, NeXTmail, RTF,   
   GIF, gzip, MS Exchange, or anything else, just ASCII, because a lot of the   
   readership still can't handle anything else.  Messages received in the   
   broken HTML sent by misconfigured versions of mail programs such as Outlook   
   Express are usually discarded, since had you actually wanted people to read   
   your message, you could have sent something legible.   
      
   Also, keep line lengths to between 70 and 80 characters, and don't justify   
   lines with extra white space nor indent the whole message with white space.   
   Messages received entirely in lower case are subject to gratuitous   
   recapitalization.  (Your moderator has strong aesthetic opinions.)   
      
   If you want to make something non-ASCII available to the readership, put it   
   on an FTP or WWW server and send in a descriptive note with the URL.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)