etsangsplk / peg

Peg, Parsing Expression Grammar, is an implementation of a Packrat parser generator.

About

Peg, Parsing Expression Grammar, is an implementation of a Packrat parser generator. A Packrat parser is a descent recursive parser capable of backtracking. The generated parser searches for the correct parsing of the input.

For more information see:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsing_expression_grammar
• http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/~baford/packrat/

This Go implementation is based on:

• http://piumarta.com/software/peg/

Usage

-inline
 Tells the parser generator to inline parser rules.
-switch
 Reduces the number of rules that have to be tried for some pegs.
 If statements are replaced with switch statements.

Syntax

First declare the package name and any import(s) required:

package <package name>

import <import name>

Then declare the parser:

type <parser name> Peg {
	<parser state variables>
}

Next declare the rules. The first rule is the entry point into the parser:

<rule name> <- <rule body>

The first rule should probably end with !. to indicate no more input follows:

first <- . !.

. means any character matches. For zero or more character matches, use:

repetition <- .*

For one or more character matches, use:

oneOrMore <- .+

For an optional character match, use:

optional <- .?

If specific characters are to be matched, use single quotes:

specific <- 'a'* 'bc'+ 'de'?

will match the string "aaabcbcde".

For choosing between different inputs, use alternates:

prioritized <- 'a' 'a'* / 'bc'+ / 'de'?

will match "aaaa" or "bcbc" or "de" or "". The matches are attempted in order.

If the characters are case insensitive, use double quotes:

insensitive <- "abc"

will match "abc" or "Abc" or "ABc" etc...

For matching a set of characters, use a character class:

class <- [a-z]

will match "a" or "b" or all the way to "z".

For an inverse character class, start with a caret:

inverse <- [^a-z]

will match anything but "a" or "b" or all the way to "z".

If the character class is case insensitive, use double brackets:

insensitive <- [[A-Z]]

Use parentheses for grouping:

grouping <- (rule1 / rule2) rule3

For looking ahead a match (predicate), use:

lookAhead <- &rule1 rule2

For inverse look ahead, use:

inverse <- !rule1 rule2

Use curly braces for Go code:

gocode <- { fmt.Println("hello world") }

For string captures, use less than and greater than:

capture <- <'capture'> { fmt.Println(buffer[begin:end]) }

Will print out "capture". The captured string is stored in buffer[begin:end].

Files

• bootstrap/main.go: bootstrap syntax tree of peg
• peg.go: syntax tree and code generator
• main.go: bootstrap main
• peg.peg: peg in its own language

Testing

There should be no differences between the bootstrap and self compiled:

./peg -inline -switch peg.peg
diff bootstrap.peg.go peg.peg.go

Author

Andrew Snodgrass