• The Inform 7 compiler

§1. The task of the Inform 7 compiler is to take source text which may be as minimal as "The Taj Mahal is a room.", and to turn it into a program which can then be compiled by a more conventional tool. The compiler works in three phases:

• (1) A build manager reads in the text, breaks it into sentences, finds the necessary extensions, merges them in, and generally decides what to do.
• (2) The core of the compiler translates this assemblage of source text into a low-level abstract language called "inter".
• (3) The code-generator further translates that intermediate code into our final output, which is often code for a conventional C-like language.

§2. Three ccmmand-line tools are provided: inbuild, inform7, and inter. Each tool has a tiny shell, enough to give each a command-line interface of its own, but otherwise all three tools are divided up into large segments called "modules". The three shells are all webs, and each module is a web.

inbuild carries out phase 1, but used as a stand-alone tool it can also perform some useful archiving and resource management functions. Similarly, inter carries out phase 3, but used as a stand-alone tool it can also perform assimilation on kits, or translate inter code not originated by Inform.

inform7 is the compiler as it is found in apps, and carries out all three phases, 1, 2 and 3. To do this, it contains all the modules of inbuild, a set of modules of its own, and all the modules of inter. It therefore contains the whole of the other two programs except for their outer command-line interfaces, and also contains a gpod deal of unique material of its own.

All three also contain the foundation module, a library of utility code which is present in every Inform tool.