Hello. I'm doing a research on how the design compiler for an OOP language differs from traditional imperative languages. I'd just like some topics to send me on my way, and if you wish, you can explain them.
For eg. I found that the type table is built differently.
Before the "compiler design" can be explored, I think the more fundamental question of "language design" needs to be addressed.
Should the language be statically typed? Dynamically typed? Early/late bound or a combination? Supporting generics? Is inference a goal? Should types be closed or open? How should sub-typing work? (Should implicit sub-typing be allowed at all?) Covariance? Contravariance? Single-inheritance? MI? SI with Traits? Explicit memberwise-selection? Prototypal (That is, should there even be a notion of "class" and "instance"?) Should types in nominative or based off of member signatures? Single-dispatch or multiple-dispatch? Are members invoked as first-class citizens or message-passing? Are types the same as classes? Is there a distinction between "value" and "reference" types? Etc, etc, etc... and this is just the tip of a very large iceberg.