An approachable, hands-on tutorial to writing a C compiler: a computer program that translates code written by the programmer into code the computer can understand. By building a compiler, readers will gain invaluable knowledge about how programming languages work; knowledge that will make them better programmers. Readers are gently led step-by-step to build a small working compiler and will develop throughout the book. Writing a C Compiler offers readers an accessible, practical approach to this complex and often overly theoretical topic.

"Have you written C code and really wondered how this turns into code that runs on a processor? Nora's book will not only help you see how that works but will help you to understand how to do these sorts of translations for your own assets, in language and code accessible to people without a PhD in compilers."
—Lars Bergstrom, Director of Engineering at Google

"This book is a great introduction to the topic of compilers for programming languages. It is extremely thorough, with many suggestions for further reading, while being quite enjoyable to read — a 'soup-to-nuts' treatment of compiler writing for C-like languages."
—John Reppy, Professor of Computer Science, University of Chicago

"It is refreshing to read a book on compiler design with a focus on implementing a practical real-world language, rather than working through dry academic exercises . . . practical, fun, and exciting to read if you are sick of reading textbooks on the subject."
—Rick Battagline, author of The Art of WebAssembly

Nora Sandler is a software engineer based in Seattle. She holds a BS in computer science from the University of Chicago, where she researched the implementation of parallel programming languages. More recently, she’s worked on domain-specific languages at an endpoint security company. You can find her blog on pranks, compilers, and other computer science topics at https://norasandler.com.