Formal Languages and Compilers Course (year 2025/2026)

Assistant: Stefano Scanzio
www: https://www.skenz.it/ss
email: stefano.scanzio [ AT_SYMBOL ] polito.it
Telegram group of the course: https://t.me/+kDacjz9GKedkYjM0

• [2026/06/15]: All the materials of the course have been added.
• [2026/04/25]: Some modification highlighted in bold on the calendar of the course.
• [2026/03/19]: Welcome to the Formal Languages and Compilers course.

• [2026/05/28] from 14:30 to 16:00 (room 8I) → Seventh classroom practice (Exam solutions)
• [2026/05/21] from 17:30 to 19:00 (LABINF) → Seventh laboratory tutoring (Group A-Z)
• [2026/05/21] from 16:00 to 17:30 (LABINF) → Seventh laboratory (Group A-Z)
• [2026/05/21] from 14:30 to 16:00 (room 8I) → Sixth classroom practice
• [2026/05/14] from 17:30 to 19:00 (LABINF) → Sixth laboratory tutoring (Group A-Z)
• [2026/05/14] from 16:00 to 17:30 (LABINF) → Sixth laboratory (Group A-Z)
• [2026/05/12] from 14:30 to 16:00 (room 5T) → Fifth classroom practice
• [2026/05/07] from 17:30 to 19:00 (LABINF) → Fifth laboratory tutoring (Group A-Z)
• [2026/05/07] from 16:00 to 17:30 (LABINF) → Fifth laboratory (Group A-Z)
• [2026/05/05] from 14:30 to 16:00 (room 5T) → Fourth classroom practice
• [2026/04/30] from 17:30 to 19:00 (LABINF) → Fourth laboratory tutoring (Group A-Z)
• [2026/04/30] from 16:00 to 17:30 (LABINF) → Fourth laboratory (Group A-Z)
• [2026/04/28] from 14:30 to 16:00 (room 5T) → Third classroom practice
• [2026/04/16] from 17:30 to 19:00 (LABINF) → Third laboratory tutoring (Group A-Z)
• [2026/04/16] from 16:00 to 17:30 (LABINF) → Third laboratory (Group A-Z)
• [2026/04/16] from 14:30 to 16:00 (room 8I) → Second classroom practice
• [2026/03/26] from 17:30 to 19:00 (LABINF) → Second laboratory tutoring (Group A-Z)
• [2026/03/26] from 16:00 to 17:30 (LABINF) → Second laboratory (Group A-Z)
• [2026/03/19] from 17:30 to 19:00 (LABINF) → First laboratory tutoring (Group A-Z)
• [2026/03/19] from 16:00 to 17:30 (LABINF) → First laboratory (Group A-Z)
• [2026/03/19] from 14:30 to 16:00 (room 8I) → First classroom practice

Install Windows: How to download and install Jflex, Java, and Cup in the Windows operating system
Install Linux Bash: How to download, install and configure Jflex, Java, and Cup in the Ubuntu Linux operating system with bash shell
Install macOS: How to download, install and configure Jflex, Java, and Cup in the macOS operating system

• Practice 1: practice1_1.pdf, practice1_2.pdf, practice1_6.pdf
  Regular expressions and the scanner JFlex
  Other material: Context dependent regular expressions, inclusive states and exclusive states in Jflex
  
  Classroom example: exClass-1.zip.
  To compile and execute type the following commands:

  jflex exp.jflex
  javac Calc.java
  java Calc example_expr.txt

• Practice 2: practice2_1.pdf, practice2_2.pdf, practice2_6.pdf
  Grammar and introduction of Cup
  Example: exClass-2.zip.
  Video on how to compile the example:
  
  To compile and execute the example type the following commands:

  jflex scanner.jflex
  java java_cup.MainDrawTree parser.cup
  javac *.java
  java Main example_expr.txt

• Practice 3: practice3_1.pdf, practice3_2.pdf, practice3_6.pdf
  Ambiguous grammars, Lists, Handling syntax errors
  Additional material: complex example about shift/reduce conflicts: exClass-4.zip
  

• Practice 4: practice4_1.pdf, practice4_2.pdf, practice4_6.pdf
  Semantic: Synthesized attributes
  Classroom example: exClass-4b.zip
  Additional material: debugging features of the Cup parser
  

• Practice 5: practice5_1.pdf, practice5_2.pdf, practice5_6.pdf
  Semantic: Inherited attributes
  Classroom example (Inherited attributes): exClass-5.zip

• Practice 6: practice6_1.pdf, practice6_2.pdf, practice6_6.pdf
  Type-checking and exam solution
  Commented exam: Exam 1.
  Solution: sol_exam1

• Practice 7: exam2.pdf, 20150903.pdf
  Exams commented in classroom
  Solutions: Exam2: sol1, sol2, sol3
  Other material:
  Commented solution of 20150903.pdf exam: IMP: exam_20150903

• Laboratory 1: laboratory_1.pdf
  Regular expression and the scanner JFlex
  Before starting try to compile and to understand the following example: exClass-1.zip
  Solutions: Exercise 1, Exercise 2, Exercise 3
• Laboratory 2: laboratory_2.pdf
  Exercises regarding the JFlex scanner.
  Solutions: Exercise 1, Exercise 2
• Laboratory 3: laboratory_3.pdf
  Implement a parser for a simplified version of the C programming language (mini C), and a parser for all the C programming language
  Provided code: for the first exercise the scanner, the main file, the makefile and part of the parser are provided: compiler_es3_before.zip
  Solutions: Exercise 1, Exercise 2, Exercise 3
• Laboratory 4: laboratory_4.pdf
  Parsing of a logic program and error handling for the mini C programming language.
  Solutions: Exercise 1, Exercise 2
• Laboratory 5: laboratory_5.pdf
  Simple calculator.
  Solutions: Exercise 1
• Laboratory 6: laboratory_6.pdf
  Realize a translator from mini C to Pseudo Assembler.
  Description of the Pseudo Assembler language: interpreter.pdf
  Download the interpreter: interpreter.jar
  To solve the exercise start from the solution of the second exercise of laboratory 4: Exercise 2
  Solutions: Exercise 1
• Laboratory 7:
  Solve the following exam: Exam 1 and the following exercises about type checking; laboratory_7.pdf
  Solutions: Exercise 1 Exercise 2

• Ply Examples: Laboratories solutions with Ply (i.e., scanner and parser in Python)
  • Ply: Mini guide about the use of the Ply scanner and parser
• Flex Bison Examples: Laboratories solutions with Flex and Bison (i.e., scanner and parser in C)
  • Flex Bison: Mini guide about the use of the Flex scanner and the Bison parser

• Flex Bison: Implementation of laboratories using the Flex scanner and the Bison parser in C
• Ply: Implementation of laboratories using the Ply scanner and parser
• Go to LLVM: Translator from the Go language to LLVM
• Julia to LLVM: Translator from the Julia language to LLVM

• LLVM: Guide about the use of LLVM
• Jflex: Official Jflex Website, Official Jflex Manual, Official Jflex Documentation
• CUP: Official CUP Website, Official CUP Documentation

• Description of the Pseudo Assembler language: interpreter.pdf
• Interpreter, jar version: interpreter.jar
  To run the interpreter: java -jar interpreter.jar <filename>
• Interpreter source code: interpreter.zip

• Some previous exams 20200720.pdf,20150903.pdf,20120626.pdf,20090909.pdf, 20081110.pdf, 20080912.pdf, 20080625.pdf, 20061107.pdf

New research Master Theses (Research thesis, four different topics, starting May 2026) (watch the video)

Thesis proposals can be downloaded here: https://www.skenz.it/ss/theses
If interested, for informations, contact: stefano.scanzio [ AT_SYMBOL ] polito.it www: https://www.skenz.it/ss