GATECompiler Design
Compiler Design for GATE
~5 marks — the lightest core subject and the most predictable.
📊 ~3 Q · ~5 marks (5% of the paper)
How toppers play this section
Compiler Design is the smallest core subject but has the highest ratio of predictable questions to syllabus, which makes it excellent value late in a preparation cycle. Parsing questions are settled by two facts: how much lookahead is available and whether the tree is built top-down or bottom-up, which together define every parser class. First and follow set computation and LL(1) conflict detection appear almost annually. Intermediate code generation questions are about turning an m-by-n problem into an m-plus-n one, and runtime environment questions ask where storage lives and how long it lasts. Data flow analysis is answered by classifying the analysis on two axes, direction and meet operator, which is close to a free mark once memorised.
Chapters
Built to the GATE blueprint — notes, shortcuts, solved PYQ-style examples and practice in every chapter.
Topic-wise weightage in GATE
Expected question counts from previous-year paper analyses. Topics with an arrow already have a full chapter.
| Topic | GATE CS — single 3-hour CBT paper Q | Score used for M.Tech admission / PSU recruitment Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lexical Analysis, Parsing & Syntax-Directed Translation | ~2 | Very high | |
| Intermediate Code Generation | ~1 | Medium | |
| Runtime Environments | ~1 | Medium | |
| Local Optimisation & Data Flow Analysis | ~1-2 | High |
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