[Python-Dev] Parsing vs. lexing.

[Jonathan Riehl]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2002, Guido van Rossum wrote:

>
> I would note that for small languages (much smaller than Python),
> writing a recursive-descent parser by hand is actually one of the most
> effective ways of creating a parser.  I recently had the pleasure to
> write a recursive-descent parser for a simple Boolean query language;
> there was absolutely no need to involve a big gun like a parser
> generator.  OTOH I would not consider writing a recursive-descent
> parser by hand for Python's Grammar -- that's why I created pgen in
> the first place. :-)
>

As per Zach's comments, I think this is pretty funny.  I have just spent
more time trying to expose pgen to the interpreter than I took to write a
R-D parser for Python 1.3 (granted, once Fred's parser module came around,
I felt a bit silly).  Considering the scope of my parser generator
integration wishlist, having GCC move to a hand coded recursive descent
parser is going to make my head explode.  Even TenDRA
(http://www.tendra.org/) used a LL(n) parser generator, despite its highly
tweaked lookahead code.  So now I'm going to have to extract grammars from
call trees?  As if the 500 languages problem isn't already intractable,
there are going to be popular language implementations that don't even
bother with an abstract syntax specificaiton!?  (Stop me from further
hyperbole if I am incorrect.)

No wonder there are no killer software engineering apps.  Maybe I should
just start writing toy languages for kids...

*smirk*
-Jon