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Parserlib

How left recursion parsing works

Parserlib is a recursive-descent parsing library that supports left recursion.

The algorithm used is very simple: when a left recursion is detected, parsing restarts from the top left-recursive rule, and executed in two phases:

  1. in the reject phase, left-recursive rules return false, to allow the non-left-recursive parts of the grammar to parse.
  2. in the accept phase, left-recursive rules return true without parsing, to allow next parse nodes to parse.

The accept phase is repeated in a loop, until no more parsing can be done.

How left-recursion is detected

A parse context keeps the parse position (i.e. iterator) where a rule is called to parse from; if the new position is equal to the previous position, i.e. if there is no progress between the last time a rule was called to parse and the current time, then there is a left recursion.

When a left recursion is detected, a left-recursive rule throws a left_recursion_exception exception.

Then this exception is caught from a higher scope and the left recursion parsing algorithm is used.

If the left recursion cannot be solved, then it propagates to the user's code.

The reject phase

In the reject phase, a left-recursive rule just returns false, forcing evaluation of branches that are not left-recursive.

For example, if we have the grammar:

p::rule list_a 
    = list_a >> 'a' 
    | 'a'
    ;

Then in the reject phase, the grammar can be thought of as:

p::rule list_a 
    = false >> 'a' 
    | 'a'
    ;

Thus allowing the branch 'a' to be evaluated first.

The accept phase

In the accept hase, a left recursive rule returns true, without parsing, in a loop, allowing the next parse nodes to parse.

For example, the above grammar can be thought of, in the accept phase, as:

p::rule list_a 
    = *(true >> terminal('a')) 
    | 'a'
    ;

Left-associativity is maintained

The library takes special care of matches, in order to allow left-associativity to be maintained when parsing a left recursion.

A parse context contains a separate parse state for matches, which is always rewinded at the start of each accept phase loop to the point where the left recursion started, thus maintaining left associativity.

When a token is consumed, the match parse state of a parse context is set to the current parse state, thus advancing both parse states together.