Meanings
proper nounthe Dragon Book
- slangcomputerAny one of several textbooks about compiler construction written by Alfred Aho and Jeffrey Ullman, especially Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (1986).
Origin
The textbooks were published with a dragon on their cover art.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Dragon Book. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dragon%20Book
MLA
“Dragon Book.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dragon%20Book. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dragon Book,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dragon%20Book.
Source: Dragon Book on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.