The Definitive ANTLR Reference 95
Joe Kauzlarich writes "Finally, someone has done us all the great service of publishing a
book about the second most well-known compiler compiler, Terence
Parr's Antlr, and it was written, moreover, by Parr himself and
published as part of the somewhat-usually-reliable Pragmatic Bookshelf
series. Take note, while it requires a JVM to run, Antlr is not just
for Java developers; it generates compilers in Python, Ruby, C, C++,
C# and Objective-C. Also note that this book is more than just an
elaborated man-page; it is also an excellent introduction to the
concepts of compiler and parser design." Keep reading for the rest of Joe's review.
First off, I have no preference between Yacc-style parsers, JavaCC and
Antlr; I've never used Yacc, have used JavaCC in college and have
since played with Antlr and am just as ignorant in the use of them
all. The fundamental difference is that Antlr is a top-down LL(*)
(simply-put, variable-lookahead) parser generator while Yacc is a
bottom-up LR parser generator. JavaCC is also top-down, but employs a
different parsing strategy. The book describes the meanings of these
terms in simple detail.
| The Definitive ANTLR Reference | |
| author | Terrance Parr |
| pages | 361 |
| publisher | Pragmatic Bookshelf |
| rating | 9 |
| reviewer | Joe Kauzlarich |
| ISBN | 978-0-9787392-5-6 |
| summary | introduction to parser/compiler design using ANTLR |
I happen to have learned in my experience that good documentation for any of these products is hard to come by and difficult to follow, simply because the subject matter is obtuse and few, until now, have ventured to write expository literature to explain the myriad concepts to the non-academician. Of the three mentioned above, Antlr appears to be the more 'modern' and can also generate lexers from within the same grammar definition file, so the notions are integrated. Antlr also has a useful IDE called AntlrWorks with visualization features, causing grammar construction to be far simpler for a beginner.
That said, I don't wish to use this review to push Antlr over its alternatives, but only to press the point that this book serves not only to introduce Antlr to the average programmer, but the concepts of parser design as well. The concepts become necessary to understand while writing and debugging grammars, as not everything written in Backus-Naur Form will produce a working parser, and this holds true for any parser generator. Learning what works and what doesn't, as well as what workarounds are available, is key to becoming proficient in Antlr, Yacc or JavaCC. Once proficiency is acheived, you'll have the valuable skill of producing domain-specific languages on demand.
Terence Parr, as mentioned before, is not only the author and maintainer of Antlr, but he wrote the book as well. Antlr is on its long-awaited third version and has been maintained by Parr throughout the project's lifetime. He is a university professor and himself developed the path-breaking LL(*) parsing strategy employed by Antlr.
Parr begins with a one chapter background in computer language design before diving into a simple example of a parser for basic integer expressions. Part II is the meat of the book, describing various aspects of writing grammars for Antlr. Generally speaking, he covers the basic semantics of grammar writing, the many optimization, supplementary and 'workaround' options provided by Antlr, grammar actions and attributes, syntax trees, error reporting and related practical topics.
The third part, Understanding Predicated LL(*) Grammars, is the valuable 'textbook' portion of the book. It gives readers a short and comprehensible introduction to exactly what predicated-LL(*) means as well as a look at how competing parser generators work in contrast.
Both of the second and third parts are scattered with theoretical tidbits to help language designers better understand why grammars must work as they do. Those who can't pick their nose without a rudimentary theoretical overview of the subject can enjoy a few casual browsings through the book before even sitting in front of a computer. It works *almost* that well as a textbook, though it still doesn't approach such classics as Aho, et al's, Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (if you want to get seriously involved in compiler design). Take it for what it is though, as a chance to learn a tool of possible value without having to dig through old mailing lists and last-minute README's on the one hand, as was much the case a year ago, and on the other hand, devoting pain-staking class and study time to a lot of theory you won't find of practical value.
So I'll recommend this book on the basis that there's nothing else like it available; and don't wait until a project comes along that requires knowledge of compiler design, because there's a heck of a learning curve (I'm still on the very low end and I wrote a compiler in college). If you think compiler or parser design is interesting or may conceivably write a domain-specific language for your workplace, the Definitive Antlr Reference is not only a good place to start, but one of the only places to start short of signing up for a university course.
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