Re: Precedence based parsing

sjmeyer@pragmatic-c.com wrote:


> Verilog expressions are complex and language is irregular and non context
>free. For example, scanner requires information from state of parser to
>distinguish tokens. Such language constructs are what hardware designers
>want.


This is a common lexer tweak in languages that are implemented with
context free parser generators. Since many strictly non-context free
computer languages can be reduced to context-free one by the use of
such tweaks, non-context free parser generators have in the past not
been in a very great need. The Bison manual contains though an example
how to use a GLR parser to handle a common C++ construct.


> In a more general sense, I have never understood why people insist
>on using weak push down autamata (PDA) machine parsing tables when
>programming languages provide the full power of Turing Machines.


I am not sure what you mean here: PDA's are used to implement programming
languages. Also, LL(k) (not only LR(k)) grammars, which you say you use,
can be implemented using a push-down automaton; see for example Waite &
Goose, "Compiler construction", theorem 5.23, p.123.


    Hans Aberg

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