Functional Compilation from the Standard ML Core Language to Lambda Calculus

Abstract

This paper describes a compiler from the Standard ML core language to a simple intermediate code based on the lambda calculus. It forms an optional part of the SML Kit, an “open” interpreter written in SML which implements the complete SML language faithfully according to the Definition[4], and with an internal modular structure reflecting the structure of the Definition. The interface presented by the compiler to the rest of the Kit is identical to that presented by the Kit’s “pure” interpreter. The lambda compiler is not intended to be an example of how to generate highly efficient code for SML; instead, it serves to illustrate in a clear, modular fashion some of the techniques which are needed to compile core SML into a simple intermediate language. It also shows that a code generating “subsystem” can be added to a pure interpreter so that no details of the compiler or the code generation (or even whether there is a compiler) are visible to the rest of the system.