This thesis is a description of and specification for TACOS, an interpretive compiler-compiler system employing a recursive-descent parsing algorithm. In its current implementation in PL/I on the IBM SYSTEM/360, a modified BNF grammar and PL/I semantic routines provide the specifications for compiler generation.

The author has intended that TACOS be a general purpose compiler-generation system independent of implementation. To this end, the metalanguage and parsing algorithm are presented from a specification rather than an implementation point of view. In contrast, the semantics are regarded as too strongly tied to the implementation language to adhere to a general specification, and are, therefore, discussed in relation to the current PL/I implementation.