C Compiler for MIPS

Architecture Overview

The compiler lowers a subset of C into MIPS assembly through the traditional compiler pipeline: lexical analysis, parsing, semantic checks, intermediate lowering, code generation, and final assembly emission.

Technical Challenges

• parsing C syntax and validating semantic constraints
• lowering expressions and control flow
• handling function calls and stack frames
• generating MIPS-compatible assembly
• keeping code generation predictable across different language constructs

Benchmarks

The primary validation path is correctness-focused: generated MIPS programs should preserve the behavior of the source C programs across expressions, branches, loops, functions, and stack interactions.

Lessons Learned

Compiler projects make machine boundaries tangible. Function calls, stack layout, register use, and control flow stop being abstract once the output has to run as assembly.

Tools

C, C++, compiler design, parsing, code generation, MIPS