First off, I'm aware that there are many questions related to this, but none of them seemed to help my specific situation. In particular, lua and python don't fit my needs as well as I could hope. It may be that no language with my requirements exists, but before coming to that conclusion it'd be nice to hear a few more opinions. :)
As you may have guessed, I need such a language for a game engine I'm trying to create. The purpose of this game engine is to provide a user with the basic tools for building a game, while still giving her the freedom of creating many different types of games.
For this reason, the scripting language should be able to handle game concepts intuitively. Among other things, it should be easy to define a variety of types, sub-type them with slightly different properties, query and modify objects dynamically, and so on.
Furthermore, it should be possible for the game developer to handle every situation they come across in the scripting language. While basic components like the renderer and networking would be implemented in C++, game-specific mechanisms such as rotating a few hundred objects around a planet will be handled in the scripting language. This means that the scripting language has to be insanely fast, 1/10 C speed is probably the minimum.
Then there's the problem of debugging. Information about the function, stack trace and variable states that the error occurred in should be accessible.
Last but not least, this is a project done by a single person. Even if I wanted to, I simply don't have the resources to spend weeks on just the glue code. Integrating the language with my project shouldn't be much harder than integrating lua.
Examining the two suggested languages, lua and python, lua is fast(luajit) and easy to integrate, but its standard debugging facilities seem to be lacking. What's even worse, lua by default has no type-system at all. Of course you can implement that on your own, but the syntax will always be weird and unintuitive.
Python, on the other hand, is very comfortable to use and has a basic class system. However, it's not that easy to integrate, it's paradigm doesn't really involve type-checking and it's definitely not fast enough for more complex games. I'd again like to point out that everything would be done in python. I'm well aware that python would likely be fast enough for 90% of the code.
There's also Scala, which I haven't seen suggested so far. Scala seems to actually fulfill most of the requirements, but embedding the Java VM with C doesn't seem very easy, and it generally seems like java expects you to build your application around java rather than the other way around. I'm also not sure if Scala's functional paradigm would be good for intuitive game-development.
EDIT: Please note that this question isn't about finding a solution at any cost. If there isn't any language better than lua, I will simply compromise and use that(I actually already have the thing linked into my program). I just want to make sure I'm not missing something that'd be more suitable before doing so, seeing as lua is far from the perfect solution for me.
You might consider mono. I only know of one success story for this approach, but it is a big one: C++ engine with mono scripting is the approach taken in Unity.
Try the Ring programming language
http://ring-lang.net
It's general-purpose multi-paradigm scripting language that can be embedded in C/C++ projects, extended using C/C++ code and/or used as standalone language. The supported programming paradigms are Imperative, Procedural, Object-Oriented, Functional, Meta programming, Declarative programming using nested structures, and Natural programming.
The language is simple, trying to be natural, encourage organization and comes with transparent implementation. It comes with compact syntax and a group of features that enable the programmer to create natural interfaces and declarative domain-specific languages in a fraction of time. It is very small, fast and comes with smart garbage collector that puts the memory under the programmer control. It supports many programming paradigms, comes with useful and practical libraries. The language is designed for productivity and developing high quality solutions that can scale.
The compiler + The Virtual Machine are 15,000 lines of C code
Embedding Ring Interpreter in C/C++ Programs
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ring/Lessons/Embedding_Ring_Interpreter_in_C/C%2B%2B_Programs
For embeddability, you might look into Tcl, or if you're into Scheme, check out SIOD or Guile. I would suggest Lua or Python in general, of course, but your question precludes them.
Since noone seems to know a combination better than lua/luajit, I think I will leave it at that. Thanks for everyone's input on this. I personally find lua to be very lacking as a high-level language for game-programming, but it's probably the best choice out there. So to whomever finds this question and has the same requirements(fast, easy to use, easy to embed), you'll either have to use lua/luajit or make your own. :)
Related
Brief Description
I have a college work where I have to implement a graph library (I'll have to give a presentation about this work later)
The basic idea is to write all the code of the data structures and their algorithms from scratch, using the tools provided by some programming language, like C/C++, Java, Python, doesn't really matter which one of them I'll pick at first.
But I should not use any built-in graph libraries in the language: the goal of the work is to make the students learn how these algorithms work. There are some test cases which my program will be later submitted to.
It is not really necessary but, if you wanna take a look, here is the homework assignment: http://pastebin.com/GdtvMTMR (I used Control-C Control-V plus google translate from a LaTeX text, this is why the formatting is poor).
The Question
So, my question is: which programming language would be more time efficient to implement this library?
It doesn't really matter if the language is functional, structured or object oriented. My priority is time efficiency and performance.
The better language is the one you know more.
But if you're looking for some performance, take a look at compiled languages with optimisations. Keep in mind that the code you write is the major component responsible in final performance, the language itself cant do miracles.
A more low level language give to you controls but requires deeply knowledge of the language and the machine you're running your code, so it's a tradeoff.
By a personal choose I would recommend C/C++ to implement a graph library. I've already done this in the past and I used vanilla ANSI C and the performance was awesome.
The one you feel more passionate about and feel more comfortable coding with.
This way you will rock your project.
Myself would pick Java.
I'm really interested in becoming a serious programmer, the type that people admire for hacker chops, as opposed to a corporate drone who can't even complete FizzBuzz.
Currently I've dabbled in a few languages, most of my experience is in Perl and Shell, and I've dabbled slightly in Ruby.
However, I can't help but feel that although I know bits and pieces of languages, I don't know how to program.
I'm really in no huge rush to immediately learn a language that can land me a job (though I'd like to do it soon), and I'm considering using PLT Scheme (now called Racket) to work through How to Design Programs or Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, essentially, one of the Scheme classics, because I have always heard that they teach people how to write high-quality, usable, readable code.
However, even MIT changed its introductory course from using SICP and Scheme to one in Python.
So, I ask for the sage advice of the many experienced programmers here regarding the following:
Does Scheme (and do those books) really teach one how to program well? If so, which of the two books do you recommend?
Is this approach to learning still relevant and applicable? Am I on the right track?
Am I better off spending my time learning a more practical/common language like Python?
Is Scheme (or lisp in general) really a language that one learns, only to never use? Or do those of you who know a lisp code in it often?
Thanks, and sorry for the rambling.
If you want to learn to really program, start doing it. Quit dabbling and write code. Pick a language and write code. Solve problems and release applications. Work with experienced programmers on open source projects, but get doing. A lot.
Does Scheme (and do those books) really teach one how to program well? If so, which of the two books do you recommend?
Probably. Probably better than any of the Learn X in Y Timespan books.
Is this approach to learning still relevant and applicable? Am I on the right track?
Yes.
Am I better off spending my time learning a more practical/common language like Python?
Only if you plan to get a job in it. Scheme will give you a better foundation though.
Is Scheme (or lisp in general) really a language that one learns, only to never use? Or do those of you who know a lisp code in it often?
I do emacs elisp fiddling to adjust my emacs. I also work with functional languages on the side to try to keep my mind flexible.
My personal opinion is that there are essentially two tracks that need to be walked before the student can claim to know something about programming. Track one is the machine itself, the computer. You should start with assembly here and learn how the computer works. After some work and understanding there - don't skimp - you should learn C and then C++; really getting the understanding of resource management and what really happens. Track two is the very high level language track - Scheme, Prolog, Haskell, Perl, Python, C#, Java, and others that execute on a VM or interpreter lie in this area. These, too, need to be studied to learn how problems can be abstracted and thought about in different ways that do not involve the fiddly bits of a real computer.
However, what will not work is being a language dilettante when learning to program. You will need to find a language - Scheme is acceptable, although I'd recommend starting at the low level first - and then stick with that language for a good year at least.
The most important parts of Scheme are the programming-language concepts you can pick up that modern languages are now just adopting or adding support for.
Lisp and Scheme have supported, before most other languages, features that were often revolutionary for the time: closures and first-order functions, continuations, hygienic macros, and others. C has none of these.
But they're appearing more and more often in programming languages that Get Stuff Done today. Why can you just declare functions seemingly anywhere in JavaScript? What happens to outside variables you reference from within a function? What are these new "closures" that PHP 5.3 is just now getting? What are "side effects" and why can they be bad for parallel computing? What are "continuations" in Ruby? How do LINQ functions work? What's a "lambda" in Python? What's the big deal with F#?
These are all questions that learning Scheme will answer but C won't.
I'd say it depends on what you want to do.
If you want to get into programming, Python is probably better. It's an excellent first language, resembles most common programming languages, and is widely available. You'll find more libraries handy, and will be able to make things more easily.
If you want to get into computer science, I'd recommend Scheme along with SICP.
In either case, I'd recommend learning several very different languages eventually, to give you more ways to look at and solve problems. Getting reasonably proficient in Common Lisp, for example, will make you a better Java programmer. I'd take them one at a time, though.
The best languages to start with are probably:
a language you want to play/learn in
a language you want to work in
And probably in that order, too, unless the most urgent need is to feed yourself.
Here's the thing: the way to learn to program is to do it a lot. In order to do it a lot, you're going to need a lot of patience and more than a little bit of enthusiasm. This is more important than the specific language you pick.... but picking a language that you like working in (whether because you like the features or because you feel it'll teach you something) can be a big boost.
That said, here's a couple of comments on Scheme:
Does Scheme (and do those books)
really teach one how to program well?
The thing about Scheme (or something like it) is that if you learn it, it'll teach you some very useful abstractions that a lot of programmers who don't ever really come to grips with a functional programming language never learn. You'll think differently The substance of programming languages and computing will look more fluid to you. You'll have a better idea of how to compose your own quasi-primitives out of a very small set of primitives rather than relying on the generally static set of primitives offered in some other languages.
The problem is that a lot of what I'm saying might not mean much to you at the moment, and it's a bit more of a mind-bending road than coming into a common dynamic language like Perl, Python, or Ruby... or even a language like C which is close to the Von Neumann mechanics of the machine.
This doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad idea to start there: I've been part of an experiment where we taught Prolog of all things to first-time programmers, and it worked surprisingly well. Sometimes beginner's mind actually helps. :) But Scheme as a first language is definitely an unconventional path. I suspect Ruby or Python would be a gentler road.
Is Scheme (or lisp in general) really
a language that one learns, only to
never use?
It's a language that you're unlikely to be hired to program in. However, while you're learning to program, and after you've learned and are doing it in your free time, you can write code in whatever you want, and because of the Internet, you'll probably be able to find people working on open source projects in whatever language you want. :)
I hate to tell ya, but nobody admires programmers for their "hacker chops". There's people who get shit done, then there's everyone else. A great many of the former types are the "corporate drones" you appear to hold in contempt.
Now, for your question, I personally love Lisp (and Scheme), but if you want something you're more likely to use in industry "Beginning Python" might be better material for you as Python is found more often in the wild. Or if you enjoy Ruby, find some good Ruby material and start producing working solutions (same with Java or .Net or whatever).
Really, either route will serve you well. The trick is to stick with it until you've internalized the concepts being taught.
Asking whether an approach to learning is relevant and applicable is tricky - there are many different learning styles, and it's a matter of finding out which ones apply to you personally. Bear in mind that the style you like best might not be the one that actually works best for you :-)
You've got plenty of time and it sounds like you have enthusiasm to spare, so it's not a matter of which language you should learn, but which one you should learn first. personally, I'd look at what you've learnt so far, what types of languages and paradigms you've got under your belt, and then go off on a wild tangent and chose one completely different.
I started programming at a very very young age. When I was in high school, I thought I was a good programmer. That's when I started learning about HOW and WHY the languages work rather than just the syntax.
Before learning the how and why, switching to a new language would have been hell. I had learned a language, but I hadn't learned to program. Now that I know the fundamental concepts well, I can apply them to virtually any language and pick it up with ease.
I would highly recommend a book (or even a school coarse, if you can afford it) that takes you through the processes of coding without relying on a specific language.
Unfortunately I don't have any books to recommend, but if others agree with me and know of any, maybe they can offer a suggestion.
//Edit: After re-reading your question, I realize that I may have not actually answered any of them... Sorry about that. I think picking up a book that will take you in-depth with best-practices would be extremely helpful, regardless of the language you choose.
There are basic programming concepts (logic flow, data structures), which are easily taught by using languages like Python. However, there are much more complex programming concepts (design patterns, optimization, threading, etc.) which the classic languages don't abstract away for you.
If your search for knowledge leans more toward algorithm development and the science of programming, start with C. If your search is more for a practical ends, I hear Ruby is a good starting point.
I agree with gruszczy. I'd start programming with C.
It may be kind of scary at first (at least for me :S ) but in the long run you'd be grateful it. I mean I love Python, but because I learned C first, the learning curve for other languages wasn't very steep at all.
Start with C and make it so.
Just remember to practice, because you'll never improve at something by doing nothing. ;)
To a specific point in your question, the "classics" you mention will help you with exactly what the titles say. SICP is about the structure and interpretation of computer programs. It is not about learning Scheme (though you will learn Scheme). HtDP is about how to design programs, it is not about learning Scheme (though you will learn Scheme).
Scheme, in principle, is a very small and concise language with almost no gotchas. This makes it excellent for moving on to learning how to structure and interpret programs, or how to design them. More traditional "practical" languages like C, C++, Python, or Java do not have this quality. They are rife with syntax. Learning with these languages means you must simultaneously learn syntactical quirks while learning to think like a programmer. In my opinion, this is unfortunate. In some cases the quirks are good, in others they are accidents of history, but in all cases it is unfortunate.
Start coding in C. It should be a horror for you at first, but this teaches you most important stuff like: pointers, recurrence, memory management. Try reading some classic books about programming like The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth. After you master that, you can think about learning object oriented programming or functional programming. First basics. If fou manage to learn them, nothing will be hard for you ever again.
if i like Ruby a lot, is there a reason I should learn another language now, such as Lua or Erlang?
New programming languages, much like spoken languages, can open up new perspectives. Learning new languages -- especially ones rather different from what you're used to (and Erlang will probably fit that bill) -- can teach you a lot of different things you didn't even know you didn't know about programming. So yes, I think you absolutely should, even if you just learn enough to tinker with it and get a feel for the new language.
Learning a functional language in particular can be extremely beneficial. Becoming familiar with the functional style of programming is a surefire step toward becoming a better programmer. Lisp (or its derivatives) in particular is a good language to study. Here's a list of past thread on SO that might offer you some insight along these lines:
Why do people think functional programming will catch on?
What’s a good Functional language to learn?
Benefits of learning scheme?
Leaving aside the (excellent) general reasons to want to learn another language, if you like Ruby a lot you might want to
Learn Smalltalk, which is a language very, very similar to Ruby but in purer form.
Learn a language that is very, very different—say something that is based on algebraic data types and functions rather than objects and methods, and something with a static type system rather than a dynamic type system—but something that, like Ruby, will support powerful methods of program composition and generic programming. Good candidates would include Standard ML and Haskell.
Learn a language that is very, very different—say something that makes you control every bit, address, and word in memory—something that forces you to understand and take control of the hardware. In other words, learn C.
Regarding the other languages you mention,
Lua is small and very elegantly designed and implemented. That may appeal to the Rubyist in you. But unlike Ruby it does not impose much of a worldview; it is more of a collection of piece parts. I would suggest you're more likely to appreciate and enjoy Lua after you've worked in three or four other languages first.
Erlang is interesting, but I have a gut feel it's either too different (purely functional, distributed) or not different enough (dynamic type system). But if it appeals to you, go for it.
On the other hand, there's something to be said for really knowing a language well. You'll be able to do a lot more with in-depth knowledge of a single language than you will with surface knowledge of a dozen.
If you like Ruby a lot you should definitely learn another language... one without sigils if possible.
Seems to me that a professional learns the tools he needs to use. Frameworks, containers, languages, all are fair game. I started out in Pascal, went to C and then C++. Then converted to Java. These days its mostly Java with a lot of Javascript and some PHP. Easy enough right? Well, I also need to learn Bash scripting and Perl. Never mind all the other crap I need to get on top of (if you say you understand all of web authentication I will call you a liar). There's a lot of stuff out there. Jump in. Be willing to try different things.
I always enjoy learning new languages for the mere challenge of it. It keeps my brain fit. I've also found it makes for good job interview fodder to be able to say "I'm flexible. I'm adaptable to whatever your needs may be in the future. And I can prove it with my long list of languages."
My main language is PHP. I am a script language fan, nevertheless I have dived into C#, Java, Python, Ruby and even OO JavaScript books to find new mechanisms, ways of thinking. I have found pretty many stunts in Java for example, that I could implement in my all day work. So learning or just studying new languages can widen your perspective.
Dynamic languages are on the rise and there are plenty of them: e.g. Ruby, Groovy, Jython, Scala (static, but has the look and feel of a dynamic language) etc etc.
My background is in Java SE and EE programming and I want to extend my knowledge into one of these dynamic languages to be better prepared for the future.
But which dynamic language should I focus on learning and why? Which of these will be the preferred language in the near future?
Learning Ruby or Python (and Scala to a lesser extent) means you'll have very transferrable skills - you could use the Java version, the native version or the .NET version (IronRuby/IronPython). Groovy is nice but JVM-specific.
Being "better prepared for the future" is tricky unless you envisage specific scenarios. What kind of thing do you want to work on? Do you have a project which you could usefully implement in a dynamic language? Is it small enough to try on a couple of them, to get a feeling of how they differ?
Scala is not a dynamic language at all. Type inference doesn't mean that its untyped. However, Its a very nice language that has nice mixture of OOPs and functional programming. The only problem is some gotchas that you encounter along the way.
Since you are already an experienced Java programmer, it will fit nicely into your skillset. Now, if you want to go all the way dynamic both Ruby or Python are awesome languages. There is demand for both the languages.
I would personally recommend Clojure. Clojure is an awesome new language that is going in popularity faster than anything I've ever seen. Clojure is a powerful, simple, and fast Lisp implemented on the JVM. It has access to all Java libraries of course, just like Scala. It has a book written about it already, it's matured to version 1.0, and it has three IDE plugins in development, with all three very usable.
I would take a look at Scala. Why ?
it's a JVM language, so you can leverage off your current Java skills
it now has a lot of tooling/IDE support (e.g. Intellij will handle Scala projects)
it has a functional aspect to it. Functional languages seem to be getting a lot of traction at the moment, and I think it's a paradigm worth learning for the future
My (entirely subjective) view is that Scala seems to be getting a lot of the attention that Groovy got a year or two ago. I'm not trying to be contentious here, or suggest that makes it a better language, but it seems to be the new JVM language de jour.
As an aside, a language that has some dynamic attributes is Microsoft's F#. I'm currently looking at this (and ignoring my own advice re. points 1 and 2 above!). It's a functional language with objects, built on .Net, and is picking up a lot of attention at the moment.
In the game industry Lua, if you're an Adobe based designer Lua is also good, if you're an embedded programmer Lua is practically the only light-weight solution, but if you are looking into Web development and General tool scripting Python would be more practical
I found Groovy to be a relatively easy jump from an extensive Java background -- it's sort of a more convenient version of Java. It integrates really nicely with existing Java code as well, if you need to do that sort of thing.
I'd recommend Python. It has a huge community and has a mature implementation (along with several promising not-so-mature-just-yet ones). Perl is as far as I've seen loosing a lot of traction compared to the newer languages, presumably due to its "non-intuitiveness" (no, don't get me started on that).
When you've done a project or two in Python, go on to something else to get some broader perspective. If you've done a few non-trivial things in two different dynamic languages, you won't have any problems assimilating any other language.
JScript is quite usefull, and its certainly a dynamic language...
If you want a language with a good number of modules (for almost anything!), go for Perl. With its CPAN, you will always find what you want without reinventing the wheel.
Well keeping in mind your background, i would recommend a language where the semantics are similar to what you are aware of. Hence a language like Scala, Fan, Groovy would be a good starting point.Once you get a hang of the basic semantics of using a functional language(as well as start loving it), you can move onto a language like Ruby. The turn around time for you in this way gets reduced as well as the fact that you can move towards being a polyglot programmer.
i would vote +1 for Groovy (and Grails). You can type with Java style or Groovy still (you can also mix both and have no worry about that). Also you can use Java libs.
As a general rule, avoid dynamically typed languages. The loss of compile time checking and the self-documenting nature of strong, static typing is well worth the necessity of putting type information into your source code. If the extra typing you need to do when writing your code is too great an effort, then a language with type inference (Scala, Haskell) might be of interest.
Having type information makes code much more readable, and readability should be your #1 criteria in coding. It is expensive for a person to read code, anything that inhibits clear, accurate understanding by the reader is a bad thing. In OO languages it is even worse, because you are always making new types. A reader just getting familiar will flounder because they do not know the types that are being passed around and modified. In Groovy, for example, the following is legal def accountHistoryReport(in, out) Reading that, I have no idea what in and out are. When you are looking at 20 different report methods that look just like that, you can quickly go completely homicidal.
If you really think you have to have non-static typing, then a language like Clojure is a good compromise. Lisp-like languages are built on a small set of key abstractions and massive amount of capability on each of the abstractions. So in Clojure, I will create a map (hash) that has the attributes of my object. It is a bit reductionalist, but I will not have to look through the whole code base for the implementation of some un-named class.
My rule of thumb is that I write scripts in dynamic languages, and systems in compiled, statically typed languages.
According to this http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/06/rich-programmer-food.html article, I defnitely should.
Quote Gentle, yet insistent executive
summary: If you don't know how
compilers work, then you don't know
how computers work. If you're not 100%
sure whether you know how compilers
work, then you don't know how they
work.
I thought that it was a very interesting article, and the field of application is very useful (do yourself a favour and read it)
But then again, I have seen successful senior sw engineers that didn’t know compilers very well, or internal machine architecture for that matter,
but did know a thing or two of each item in the following list :
A programming paradigm (OO, functional,…)
A programming language API (C#, Java..) and at least 2 very different some say! (Java / Haskell)
A programming framework (Java, .NET)
An IDE to make you more productive (Eclipse, VisualStudio, Emacs,….)
Programming best practices (see fxcop rules for example)
Programming Principles (DRY, High Cohesion, Low Coupling, ….)
Programming methodologies (TDD, MDE)
Design patterns (Structural, Behavioural,….)
Architectural Basics (Tiers, Layers, Process Models (Waterfall, Agile,…)
A Testing Tool (Unit Testing, Model Testing, …)
A GUI technique (WPF, Swing)
A documenting tool (Javadoc, Sandcastle..)
A modelling languague (and tool maybe) (UML, VisualParadigm, Rational)
(undoubtedly forgetting very important stuff here)
Not all of these tools are necessary to be a good programmer (like a GUI when you just don’t need it)
but most of them are. Where do compilers come in, and are they really that important, since, as I mentioned,
lots of programmers seems to be doing fine without knowing them and especially, becoming a good programmer is seen the multitude of knowledge domains almost a lifetime achievement :-) , so even if compilers are extremely important, isn't there always stuff still more important?
Or should i order 'The Unleashed Compilers Unlimited Bible (in 24H..))) today?
For those who have read the article, and want to start studying right away :
Learning Resources on Parsers, Interpreters, and Compilers
If you just want to be a run-of-the-mill coder, and write stuff... you don't need to take compilers.
If you want to learn computer science and appreciate and really become a computer scientist, you MUST take compilers.
Compilers is a microcosm of computer science! It contains every single problem, including (but not limited to) AI (greedy algorithms & heuristic search), algorithms, theory (formal languages, automata), systems, architecture, etc.
You get to see a lot of computer science come together in an amazing way. Not only will you understand more about why programming languages work the way that they do, but you will become a better coder for having that understanding. You will learn to understand the low level, which helps at the high level.
As programmers, we very often like to talk about things being a "black box"... but things are a lot smoother when you understand a little bit about what's in the box. Even if you don't build a whole compiler, you will surely learn a lot. You will get to see the formalisms behind parsing (and realize it's not just a bunch of special cases hacked together), and a bunch of NP complete problems. You will see why the theory of computer science is so important to understand for practical things. (After all, compilers are extremely practical... and we wouldn't have the compilers we have today without formalisms).
I really hope you consider learning about them... it will help you get to the next level as a computer scientist :-).
You should learn about compilers, for the simple reason that implementing a compiler makes you a better programmer. The compiler will surely suck, but you will have learned a lot during the way. It is a great way of improving (or practising) your programming skill.
You do not need to understand compilers to be a good programmer, but it can help. One of the things I realized when learning about them, is that compiling is simply a translation.
If you have ever translated from one language to another, you have just done compiling.
So when should you learn about compilers?
When you want to, or need it to solve a problem.
Compiler theory is useful, but not essential.
Although there are some techniques which come in handy, like lexical analysis and parsing.
Another one is error handling. Compilers need a lot of these. User input can contain anything, even the unexpected. And you need to deal with all of these.
If you're going to be working at a high-enough level where you're worrying over UML and self-describing code, you could easily go your entire career without wanting or needing intimate details of how the compiler works.
But, if you're an in-the-trenches coder and have no aspirations to manage your friends, it's likely that one day, you'll realize you're waging war with your compiler. It could be a random bug that comes along or a hallway conversation about while-verses-for loops. You'll realize the assembly (or IL, likely, in the coming years) is just a bit to the left of what you were needing and another universe will unfold.
So, I suppose my answer is, just be aware of the compiler for now, that it's doing quite a lot, but don't worry over it too much.
The compilers courses usually focus on how the high-level code is analyzed and translated into machine code. That's very interesting, but not crucial. It's more important to understand what is this machine code that is generated by the compiler so that you understand how a computer works and what is the cost of each language construct.
So I'd rather say that you should know an assembly language (I mean a limited subset of assembly language for one architecture) to understand how a computer works and the latter is definitely required for a competent programmer so that he understands what segmenation fault is, when to optimize and when not and other similar low-level things.
If you intend to write extremely time-critical real-time code, you will benefit from understanding how the compiler optimises your code. However, you will actually benefit more from understanding the underlying architecture of your hardware.
From my experience, if you understand how the hardware works, and how the compiler interprets your code, you will be able to write code that does exactly what you intend it to do. I have been caught on several occasions, writing code that got optimised away by the compiler and made the hardware do something that I did not intend.
All in all, understanding the entire software-hardware stack is not essential to write good algorithms and code, but it will most certainly help!
From a practical perspective, general compiler theory is less of concern than a assembler, linker and loader to a specific platform. For example, I just consider the GCC compiler as a translator from my high-level C language to the low-level assembly language on a x86 platform. And more often than not, I manually refine ;) the code generated by the compiler.
From a scientific perspective, I would strongly suggest you learning the compiler theory, it will help you understand the great idea that computer is built upon. And even more, you will have a different eye upon the world.
Just my opinion, but I believe compilers is not given enough attention in CS courses, not in mine, and not in any others afaik. I think any CS major should do 2 things after a sabbatical or finishing their major: Re-learn if necessary finite automata and maybe a formal methods language. Apply it.
Write a simple compiler with this knowledge. Alex Aiken has a very useful online tutorial on writing a compiler for the COOL (Classroom Object Oriented Language) which is a subset of Scala as of 2013 ver. At least at time of writing.