Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[J Chapman Flack]

Hello,

I'm not a c.l.ada regular, but Markus Kuhn suggested I post something
about
ANTLR in case it could be of interest.  ANTLR (ANother Tool for Language
Recognition)
is a pretty mature (in use for much of this decade) free, open-source
parser and
lexer generator with built-in support for building abstract syntax trees
and "tree
parsers" that apply transformations to them.

ANTLR itself is implemented in Java but produces parsers and lexers in
any language
supported by a backend.  The backends currently included produce Java,
C++, HTML
(for documentation of grammars), and "Diagnostics" (for detailed
dissection of grammars).
A graphical (Java Swing) "ParseView" debugger is included for exploring
the parser's
operation visually.

I don't know what parser/lexer tools are already available in the Ada
community
but writing an Ada backend to plug into ANTLR ought to be a reasonable
project
if anyone is interested.  The ANTLR home page is http://www.antlr.org/

Cheers,
Chapman Flack,  Purdue University
"just a recent jumper-on to the ANTLR bandwagon"

> You might want to announce this project on comp.lang.ada, because there
> might be enthusiastic volunteers out there who would be willing to add
> an Ada95 backend as well. (Ada95: faster than Java and safer than C++.)
> Markus

Re: Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[William Clodius]

In fact, the largest component of PCCTS was also called ANTLR, though it
was written in C/C++. The rewrite of ANLTR in Java in version 2.0 also
transfered most of the capabilities of the other tools to ANTLR, so that
the other tools in PCCTS were dropped.

The author of ANTLR thought that there were enough things wrong with
C/C++ to justify a complete rewrite in what he thought was a better
language, Java.

-- 

William B. Clodius		Phone: (505)-665-9370
Los Alamos Nat. Lab., NIS-2     FAX: (505)-667-3815
PO Box 1663, MS-C323    	Group office: (505)-667-5776
Los Alamos, NM 87545            Email: wclodius@lanl.gov

Re: Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[dennison]

In article <7afur9$8ka$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
  robert_dewar@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> In article <36CB37AB.2313@cs.purdue.edu>,
>   J Chapman Flack <flack@cs.purdue.edu> wrote:

> > ANTLR (ANother Tool for Language Recognition) is a pretty
> > mature (in use for much of this decade) free, open-source
> > parser and lexer generator
>
> > ANTLR itself is implemented in Java
>
> What is wrong with this picture? :-)

Yet another engineer w/ 10 years of Java experience? I don't know what you
find so unusual about that. :-)

T.E.D.

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Re: Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[nabbasi]

In article <7ahri9$tkm$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, dennison@telepath.com says...
>
 
>
>Yet another engineer w/ 10 years of Java experience? I don't know what you
>find so unusual about that. :-)
>
 
Around 1981, I saw an Ad in the LA times asking for an Ada engineer with 
5 years experience. When I called, the secretery insisted that is 
the minumum requirment they want. I dont think there was even a commerical
Ada compiler in 1981.
 
I am always amazed why number of years in some specific language matter.
If someone has allready been programming for few years in any langauge 
(except may be in VB :), and they 'understand' software. then they can 
learn a new language in few short weeks, if not few days. To get a good 'feel' 
for the language might take few more short weeks at most, but that is all. 

This is like asking an good painter how many years of experience they have been
drawing in one specific brand of brush or type of paint. It does not really 
matter. But try to explain that to those who write those job ads.

Nasser 

Re: Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[Marin David Condic]

nabbasi@pacbell.net wrote:
> 
> In article <7ahri9$tkm$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, dennison@telepath.com says...
> >
> 
> >
> >Yet another engineer w/ 10 years of Java experience? I don't know what you
> >find so unusual about that. :-)
> >
> 
> Around 1981, I saw an Ad in the LA times asking for an Ada engineer with
> 5 years experience. When I called, the secretery insisted that is
> the minumum requirment they want. I dont think there was even a commerical
> Ada compiler in 1981.
> 
The writer of the ad may have had in mind: "I want someone who has been
programming for at least 5 years and knows Ada" The personnel/HR folks -
who know nothing about technical specs except how to line up buzzwords
on resumes with buzzwords in personel requests - probably translated it
into: "They want an Ada programmer with 5 years experience."

The standard for Ada was published in 1983, correct? I think there may
have been some "proof of concept" work done, but certainly nothing
validated. Its hard to remember back that far, but I do remember reading
early drafts of the Ada standard back in 1981.

MDC
-- 
Marin David Condic
Real Time & Embedded Systems, Propulsion Systems Analysis
United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney, Large Military Engines
M/S 731-95, P.O.B. 109600, West Palm Beach, FL, 33410-9600
Ph: 561.796.8997         Fx: 561.796.4669
***To reply, remove "bogon" from the domain name.***

    "Crime does not pay ... as well as politics."

        --  A. E. Newman

Re: Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[Tom Moran]

Sometimes of course job ads are there to fill a technical requirement
- prove nobody exists with certain characteristics, or that the person
already in line for the job is the only one available, etc.

Re: Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[robert_dewar]

In article <36CB37AB.2313@cs.purdue.edu>,
  J Chapman Flack <flack@cs.purdue.edu> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm not a c.l.ada regular, but Markus Kuhn suggested I
> post something about ANTLR.

> ANTLR (ANother Tool for Language Recognition) is a pretty
> mature (in use for much of this decade) free, open-source
> parser and lexer generator

> ANTLR itself is implemented in Java


What is wrong with this picture? :-)

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Re: Parser/lexer generator ANTLR

[Brian Rogoff]

On Thu, 18 Feb 1999 robert_dewar@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> In article <36CB37AB.2313@cs.purdue.edu>,
>   J Chapman Flack <flack@cs.purdue.edu> wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'm not a c.l.ada regular, but Markus Kuhn suggested I
> > post something about ANTLR.
> 
> > ANTLR (ANother Tool for Language Recognition) is a pretty
> > mature (in use for much of this decade) free, open-source
> > parser and lexer generator
> 
> > ANTLR itself is implemented in Java
> 
> 
> What is wrong with this picture? :-)

Well, if one wishes to give the most generous interpretation of the
statement, one could say that ANTLR is based on techniques pioneered 
by PCCTS (written in C and then C++, by the author of ANTLR), and that 
this family of tools was in use for most of the decade. 

-- Brian (10 years experience in Ada 95 programming ;-)