This is one of a few computer science books that remains rather
special to me. I began learning about LALR(1) parsing and code
generation from this book. It and a small book on YACC were
enough to enable me to write a compiler for a 4GL. I have since
seen many other good (and not so good) books but this is a
personal favourite. It is full of practical advice while
maintaining a high standard of scholarship and provided a good
introduction to the subject.