Comment by itsmemattchung

6 days ago

It's been about 4 years since I took a compilers course (from OMSCS, graduate program) and still shutter ... it was, hands down, the most difficult (yet rewarding) classes I've taken.

13 comments

itsmemattchung

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nirvdrum  6 days ago

Based on another reply I can’t tell if there’s a clever window-based pun that I’m missing. If not, I think you want “shudder” and not “shutter” here. I’m sorry if I just ruined the joke.

tjarjoura  6 days ago

What did you find more painful about compilers than other forms of programming?

  • kuboble  6 days ago

    I think there is a million ways to make a compilers course.

    The course I did was organized perfectly with big parts of compiler boiler plate already written, and I only had to implement parser/lexer rules and the translation of language structures into assembly instructions. Also it was a compiler for a language designed just for this course with the intention of it being specifically easy to write a compiler for it and not programming.

    Without this I can imagine it being a painful experience

niyikiza  5 days ago

I took that course too and ruined my life...by making me think writing a compiler could be fun. The course itself was worth the money I paid for the program.

Pay08  6 days ago

I would like to agree with this comment, but I certainly didn't find it rewarding. It was pure pain.

  • kuboble  6 days ago

    10 years ago I took few coursera courses to fill the gaps in my computer science education.

    One of them was a compilers course done by karpathy. It was pure joy and a great learning experience.

    Also in my experience the joy of doing a course was much stronger correlated with the teacher's qualities rather than the subject itself.