Re: A Plain English Compiler

lesliedellow says, I wonder if the OP has a clue how compilers work?


Reply: We obviously know how compilers work having written a reliable,
efficient, and fully functioning one -- for Plain English, coded entirely in
Plain English.


lesliedellow says, If he has, he might want to try his hand at writing a BNF
grammar for English.


Reply: English is a natural language and, as such, cannot be entirely
reduced to a BNF; it must be compiled via a combination of heuristic
techniques. Our particular approach takes three swipes at the source code
using a mixture of recursive-descent parsing and a small collection of ad
hoc super- and sub-parsers. (Write me directly for a copy of the EBNF we use
for the recursive-descent part; it's less than 100 lines.) Note also that
our compiler is designed in such a way that the bulk of the vocabulary and
grammar -- nouns, verbs, adjectives, modes of expression, etc -- are not
hard-coded in the compiler, but are are automatically deduced when the
programmer, in his own source code, defines new types, variables, and
routines; the compiler focuses on that tiny and well-defined portion of
English that serves as glue for the rest: articles, prepositions, and
conjunctions.


See here for our next proposed steps and links to the current documentation,
source code, and executable prototype:


https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-hybrid-programming-language/x/8950932

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