C++ Compiler support

For a simple, practical introduction you may check out the oldie-goldie Crenshaw's Let's build a compiler[^].
If you need theoretical background, a classical is the Dragon book[^].

You can write your own compiler as a proof of concept using the tools called "compiler compilers" . Although these will not be the best compilers as compared to the advanced compilers today. Check here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiler-compiler[^]

http://accent.compilertools.net/[^]

An "exe" is a binary file with multiple sections. The first section is ALWAYS a standard header (read Microsoft PE-COFF file format). The next sections (if any) can be sections of code (machine language) or sections of data (images, sounds, strings, video, etc).

A compiler will transform you c++ code in machine language.
A linker will take the machine language generated by the compiler, the images, the strings and will generate an "exe" file: first will write the mandatory PE header, then will write the machine language code and then rest of the data required for a functional "exe". Linkers are invoked automatically by modern compilers(GCC, Borland C++ and Microsoft Visual C++ do this).

Before you can write a C++ compiler you MUST:
- Learn to program in one of this languages: C, C++, Java.
- Read the Dragon Book(Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools - Alfred Aho, Ravi Sethi, Jeffrey Ullman).
- Read Intel x86 ISA
- Read Microsoft PE-COFF file format

Generally, a complete C++ compiler is developed by a team of multiple programmers in 3-5 years. Understanding them will take you about one week. Writing alone a C++ compliant compiler is not possible. This is my personal view and you can prove me wrong.