All assignments and activities associated with this course must be performed in accordance with the University of Rochester's Academic Honesty Policy. More information is available at: http://www.rochester.edu/college/honesty.
The University of Rochester respects and welcomes students of all backgrounds and abilities. In the event you encounter any barriers(s) to full participation in this course due to the impact of a disability please contact the Office of Disability Resources. The access coordinators in the Office of Disability Resources can meet with you to discuss the barriers you are experiencing and explain the eligibility process for estabilishing academic accommodations. You can reach the Office of Disability Resources at disability@rochester.edu, (585) 276-5075; Taylor Hall.
(mine) Compiler analysis is a field with deep, beautiful theory and immediate, important real-world applications. Nearly all computation is specified as programs, and this course will teach you to write programs that analyze and transform other programs. Learn the subject that tries to answer the questions that gave birth to Computer Science!
(from CDCS) Programming is the automation of information processing. Program analysis and transformation is the automation of programming itself---how much a program can understand and improve other programs. Because of the diversity and complexity of computer hardware, programmers increasingly depend on automation in compilers and other tools to deliver efficient and reliable software. This course combines fundamental principles and (hands-on) practical applications. Specific topics include data flow and dependence theories; static and dynamic program transformation including parallelization; memory and cache management; type checking and program verification; and performance analysis and modeling. The knowledge and practice will help students to become experts in software performance and correctness. Students taking the graduate level will have additional course requirements and a more difficult project.
Students who take this course will learn:
CSC254 (or equivalent basic compilers course) strongly recommended; CSC252 (or basic computer organization/architecture course) recommended; or instructor's permission.
CSC255, in general, can be taken by a sufficiently motivated and competent sophomore, but check with the instructor.
Letter grades are assigned using a standard scale based on the absolute score. Here is the scale I will use, although I might choose to use a different scale which will not be stricter than this:
| Score | CSC255 | CSC455 |
|---|---|---|
| >= 96 | A | A |
| >= 92 | A- | A- |
| >= 88 | B+ | B+ |
| >= 84 | B | B |
| >= 80 | B- | B- |
| >= 76 | C+ | C |
| >= 72 | C | C |
| >= 70 | C | C |
| >= 68 | C- | E |
| >= 60 | D | |
| < 60 | E |
In case we encounter difficulties due to COVID, I may use projects instead of exams.
Students taking the 4xx version of this course should expect to read more, and expect to solve different problems, and be graded on different criteria.
Inform the instructor in advance if circumstances beyond your control will make you miss a deadline.
I have also taught this course in Spring 2019, Spring 2020, in Spring 2021, in Spring 2022, Spring 2023.