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Cosc 327

COSC 327

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23 views

Cosc 327

COSC 327

Uploaded by

grahamoyigo19
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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COSC 327

CHUKA UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS

THIRD YEAR EXAMINATION FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF


BACHELOR OF SCIENCE COMPUTER SCIENCE

COSC 327: COMPILER CONSTRUCTION

STREAMS: BSC (COSC) Y3S2 TIME: 2 HOURS

DAY/DATE: THURSDAY 09/04/2020 2.30 PM – 4.30 PM


INSTRUCTIONS:

• Answer Question ONE and any other TWO questions.


• Diagrams should be used whenever they are relevant to support an answer.
• Sketch maps and diagrams may be used whenever they help to illustrate your answer
• Do not write anything on the question paper
• This is a closed book exam, No reference materials are allowed in the examination room
• There will be No use of mobile phones or any other unauthorized materials
• Write your answers legibly and use your time wisely

SECTION A
ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS IN THIS SECTION
QUESTION ONE [30 MARKS]
a) Highlight the role of the symbol table in the compilation process. [4 Marks]

b) Giving one example for each, differentiate between a low level and a high-level
programming language. [4 Marks]

c) Compilers and Interpreters are both used in the language translation process.

i. Differentiate between a compiler and an interpreter [4 Marks]

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COSC 327

ii. Describe two advantages of compilers over interpreters [2 Marks]

iii. Describe two advantages of interpreters over compilers [2 Marks]

d) Identify any five categories of compilers and describe each. [5 Marks]

e) List and explain any four outputs of the preprocessor phase of compilation. [4 Marks]

f) Name any five popular compilers and identify the language popularly associated with.
[5 Marks]
SECTION B
ANSWER ANY TWO QUESTIONS FROM THIS SECTION
QUESTION TWO [20 MARKS]
a) In some language processing systems, the compiler compiles to assembly language rather
than to machine language. Discuss the pros and cons of this approach [6 Marks]

b) Pass and Phases are terms used in Compiler construction

i. Giving examples differentiate between a pass and a phase in compiler construction


[4 Marks]

ii. Identify any three type of passes in compiler design and describe each briefly
[6 Marks]

c) Describe how a typical Java program is compiled and highlight the benefit of such an
approach of compilation. [4 Marks]
QUESTION THREE [20 MARKS]
a) Draw a diagram of a typical language processing system and explain in detail what happens
at each stage of the processing through the system. [8 Marks]

b) C++ is an example of a language that is compiled


i. Write a well-designed C++ program that sums up a CAT and EXAM and
determines the total mark. The program then determines whether a student has
passed or not given that passmark is greater or equal to 40 marks. [6 Marks]

ii. By referencing the language processing system in a) above, explain how this C++
program moves from source language to target language. [6 Marks]

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COSC 327

QUESTION FOUR [20 MARKS]

a) Explain how lexemes becomes tokens and consequently highlight the importance of tokens in
the compilation process. [4 Marks]

b) Formally define a Context Free Grammar and explore the role a Context Free Grammar plays
in the compiler design. [6 Marks]

c) For any context-free grammar there is a parser that takes at most 0(n3) time to parse a string
of n terminals.

i. Highlight the relationship between a Context Free Grammar and a parser


[4 Marks]

ii. Demonstrate how a CFG can be parsed in a typical compile process. [4 Marks]

iii. Cubic time 0(n3) is generally considered too expensive for a parser. Explain what
can be done to reduce this time. [2 Marks]
cubi
e.

QUESTION FIVE [20 MARKS]

a) With the aid of examples, differentiate between syntax and semantic analysis as regards
compilers. [4 Marks]

b) Diagrammatically present the structure of a compiler and explain how each part works and
how they work together. [16 Marks]
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