1. A computer implemented method of generating a compiler description from an architecture description, comprising: extracting, by a compiler description generator, information from an architecture description describing an architecture of an application specific instruction set processor (ASIP); receiving, by the compiler description generator via a source different than the architecture description, definitions for a plurality of abstract elements of a compiler that have no direct representative in the architecture description, the abstract elements comprising a non-terminal representing a data path in common with a plurality of compiler instructions; extracting, by the compiler description generator, a mapping of compiler rules to instructions included in the architecture description; and automatically generating, by the compiler description generator, a compiler description of the compiler for the architecture of the ASIP based on the extracted information, the received definitions for the plurality of abstract elements, and the extracted mapping, wherein a compiler generator generates the compiler based on the compiler description.