There is a single assessed code deliverable, which is due on Tuesday 29 March 2022 at 23:59. This deliverable contains two components:

• C-compiler (90%): a compiler from C to MIPS assembly. The source language is pre-processed C90. The target environment is Ubuntu 20.04, so the lab Ubuntu distribution, or equivalently an Ubuntu 20.04 VM as configured in the attached Vagrantfile.

• time-tracking/project management component (10%), which will be assessed orally at the start of Summer term.

Each group gets a bare private repository. It is up to you if you want to clone the master specification, or to start from scratch.

Submission will be via GitHub (code) and Teams (commit hash), as in the labs.

All submissions will be tested functionally -- there is no expectation for your compiler to optimise its input. Moreover, your compiler will only be tested on valid inputs, so you do not need to handle faulty inputs in a graceful way.

• New for 2021/2022:

  • Various improvements to scripts for running test cases. (Thanks to Yann Herklotz for this.)

• New for 2020/2021:

  • In previous years, students were additionally required to submit a C-to-Python translator, as a "ramping up" task. This extra deliverable has been removed, as the labs provide plenty of "ramping up" practice.

  • We have provided a really basic compiler that simply ignores its input and produces a fixed, valid MIPS assembly program. This should help you to get started a bit more rapidly. (Thanks to Archie Crichton for writing this.)

• New for 2019/2020:

  • In previous years, students were additionally required to submit a set of testcases. This deliverable has been removed; instead, a large collection of testcases has been provided for you, as this was judged to be more useful.

  • In previous years, the compiler component counted for 42.8% of the module; it now counts for 55%. It was felt that this weighting more accurately reflects the effort that students put in to building a working compiler.