Re: Lexical feedback

Lately I've been playing with parsers for C and C++ in byacc and
btyacc. The byacc grammars, based on Roskind grammars, work but are
extremely large. Straightforward grammars for btyacc can be devised,
are compact, and, I believe, easier to understand.


My question is this: for a production compiler, is it better (that
is, faster or more efficient for compilation) to use something akin
to the Roskind grammar rather than a backtracking grammar? Does it
even matter with today's machines?


I do believe that from a program maintenance point of view that the
simpler grammars possible in a backtracking environment win. On the
other hand, In my experience, the parser is usually the last thing
that needs maintenance.


If noone has a definitive answer (or opinion!) I will post my benchmarks
comparing both approaches in the next week or so.


--
Richard Pennington Introl Corporation, Milwaukee, WI USA
Email: rich@introl.com Phone: +1 414-273-6100 Fax: +1 414-273-6106
NetBSD, X11R6, etc. mirrors: http://www.introl.com ftp.introl.com
[I'd use the backtracking grammar for two reasons -- you can produce better
error messages, and at the rate C++ is mutating your parser will surely
need maintenance. -John]


--

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