Are we still recommending the Dragon Book? I have a copy on my desk, but I got a lot more out of Modern Compiler Implementation in ML, I felt. The Dragon Book covers a lot of ground, but I don't think it really goes far enough towards being able to construct a real production-quality compiler, whereas Modern Compiler Implementation is more focused, but gets you a lot further towards being able to write real compilers.
Just my two cents. Perhaps other people have read the Dragon book and got a lot out of it. I've found it much more useful as a reference work (when looking for specific information), rather than as something that one might read from cover-to-cover in order to learn how to write compilers.
Just my two cents. Perhaps other people have read the Dragon book and got a lot out of it. I've found it much more useful as a reference work (when looking for specific information), rather than as something that one might read from cover-to-cover in order to learn how to write compilers.