Questions about OpenJDK mailing list / Personal Introduction

[Jonathan Gibbons]

Ronald,

Thank you for your courteous and considerate introduction. This is 
certainly the place where the javac team and friends hang out, and you 
may be able to get answers to your questions.  But if you're looking to 
come up to speed on Java, I'm not sure I would recommend starting with 
learning how the compiler works!

-- Jon


On 04/13/2015 11:40 PM, A B wrote:
> Good morning Jonathan, Member of the OpenJDK Developer group.
>
> 1. Today I joined the OpenJDK Compiler-dev mailing list and want to make sure:
> - I behave well on that list,
> - That I blend in with the rest of the crowd,
> - do not start to ask the wrong questions to the wrong people here,
> - do not want to waste peoples valuable time, by asking stuff that I can find and learn myself.
> That is why I sent you this email first, so I can fully understand the true nature of this mailing list.
> ==================================================================================================
>
> 2. INTRODUCTION: (Allow me to introduce myself briefly)
> Ronald, 50 years young IT veteran, started my journey 35 years behind a the keyboard of a:
> - Tandy TRS-80 of my friend's father (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=409)
> - Later I bought my own Texas TI99/4a homecomputer (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=409)
> After that I switch to PC computing (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1044)
> and continued walking that PC-path ever since.
>
> 3. I am an auto-didactic/ self-learner, so I learn everything myself (given good documentation and crystal-clear-and-simple-examples).
> I graduated as a "Industrial Automation" Engineer in the Netherland (kind of a "Bachelor of Computer Science" in the Netherlands)
> I have 18 years of "business experience" in a wide variety of IT firms and almost all IT-positions, a jack-of-all-trade so to speak.
> I have programmed in many language over the years (professionally and hobby-wise):
> DOS:
> - Texas Instrument Basic,
> - Turbo Pascal, C,
> - Microsoft C,
> - Dbase III, IV,
> - Clipper,
> - Assembler (Motorola, intel),
> - Prolog (a little bit in highschool)
> - C++,(a little bit in highschool)
> - Java (started in its very beginning, back in 1996, but never followed-through with it, in that time)
>
> WINDOWS:
> - Visual Basic 6
> - Visual C
>
> In short, I do understand computer-programming and have developer a programmers-mindset over all the years :-)
>
> ==================================================================================================
> 3. CORE OF MY QUESTION:
> Since a few weeks, I have picked "my Java Trail" again and am currently up studying the Java Language again. On that trail, i encounters some
> javac generated compiler-errors and went looking for its documentation, error-meaning, and how to solve them.
> Makes sense right? Learning by doing, trail and error.
>
> This quickly expanded my thirst of knowledge into "wanting-to-know-how-a-java-compiler-does-its-thing" under the hood.
> I landed on the OpenJDK page, and started studying that material along with many internet compiler-builder courses,
> _ http://www.diku.dk/~torbenm/Basics/
> _ http://www.slideshare.net/leopk01/compiler-chapter-1
> _ https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~appel/modern/basic/java/
> _ http://www.slideshare.net/GonzaloSantiago/design-and-implementation-of-compiler
> _ http://www.slideshare.net/chammua/compilers-principles-techniques-and-tools-2nd-edition-34300992
>
> since I want to be fully 100% be able the inner-workings of the OpenJDK Java compiler (like you girls and guys do)
> - http://openjdk.java.net/groups/compiler/
> - http://openjdk.java.net/groups/compiler/doc/hhgtjavac/index.html
> - http://openjdk.java.net/groups/compiler/doc/package-overview/index.html
>
> ==================================================================================================
> 4. MY CHALLENGE:
> Currently i'm STUCK at this page:, Phase 2 - the ENTER phase of JAVAC:
> - http://openjdk.java.net/groups/compiler/doc/compilation-overview/index.html
>
> That is the very reason why I have now joined your mailing list, to be able to communicate with the creators of the OpenJDK compiler directly.
> since I could not find any better information source online on this topic. Just like my grandpa though me, "Always go back to the source of your challenges"
>
> ==================================================================================================
> QUESTIONS:
> - Is this allowed through the usage of this mailing list to ask question about it?
> - Is this the right place to ask question on the inner workings of the OpenJDK compiler?
>
> Thanks everybody for their reaction, hints, tips, contributions and shared knowledge.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ronald Vermeij
>