sly/docs/index.rst
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SLY (Sly Lex Yacc)
==================
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. NO OFFICIAL RELEASE HAS BEEN MADE.
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Requirements
============
SLY requires the use of Python 3.6 or greater. Older versions
of Python are not supported.
Overview
========
SLY is a 100% Python implementation of the lex and yacc tools
commonly used to write parsers and compilers. Parsing is
based on the same LALR(1) algorithm used by many yacc tools.
Here are a few notable features:
- SLY provides *very* extensive error reporting and diagnostic
information to assist in parser construction. The original
implementation was developed for instructional purposes. As
a result, the system tries to identify the most common types
of errors made by novice users.
- SLY provides full support for empty productions, error recovery,
precedence specifiers, and moderately ambiguous grammars.
- SLY uses various Python metaprogramming features to specify
lexers and parsers. There are no generated files or extra
steps involved. You simply write Python code and run it.
- SLY can be used to build parsers for "real" programming languages.
Although it is not ultra-fast due to its Python implementation,
SLY can be used to parse grammars consisting of several hundred
rules (as might be found for a language like C).
SLY originates from the PLY project (http://www.dabeaz.com/ply/index.html).
However, it's been modernized a bit. In fact, don't expect any code
previously written for PLY to work. That said, most of the things
that were possible in PLY are also possible in SLY.
An Example
==========
SLY is probably best illustrated by an example. Here's what it
looks like to write a parser that can evaluate simple arithmetic
expressions and store variables::
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# calc.py
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from sly import Lexer, Parser
class CalcLexer(Lexer):
tokens = { NAME, NUMBER }
ignore = ' \t'
literals = { '=', '+', '-', '*', '/', '(', ')' }
# Tokens
NAME = r'[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*'
@_(r'\d+')
def NUMBER(self, t):
t.value = int(t.value)
return t
@_(r'\n+')
def newline(self, t):
self.lineno += t.value.count('\n')
def error(self, t):
print("Illegal character '%s'" % t.value[0])
self.index += 1
class CalcParser(Parser):
tokens = CalcLexer.tokens
precedence = (
('left', '+', '-'),
('left', '*', '/'),
('right', 'UMINUS'),
)
def __init__(self):
self.names = { }
@_('NAME "=" expr')
def statement(self, p):
self.names[p.NAME] = p.expr
@_('expr')
def statement(self, p):
print(p.expr)
@_('expr "+" expr')
def expr(self, p):
return p.expr0 + p.expr1
@_('expr "-" expr')
def expr(self, p):
return p.expr0 - p.expr1
@_('expr "*" expr')
def expr(self, p):
return p.expr0 * p.expr1
@_('expr "/" expr')
def expr(self, p):
return p.expr0 / p.expr1
@_('"-" expr %prec UMINUS')
def expr(self, p):
return -p.expr
@_('"(" expr ")"')
def expr(self, p):
return p.expr
@_('NUMBER')
def expr(self, p):
return p.NUMBER
@_('NAME')
def expr(self, p):
try:
return self.names[p.NAME]
except LookupError:
print("Undefined name '%s'" % p.NAME)
return 0
if __name__ == '__main__':
lexer = CalcLexer()
parser = CalcParser()
while True:
try:
text = input('calc > ')
except EOFError:
break
if text:
parser.parse(lexer.tokenize(text))
More Documentation
==================
Contents:
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 2
sly
Resources
=========
For a detailed overview of parsing theory, consult the excellent
book "Compilers : Principles, Techniques, and Tools" by Aho, Sethi, and
Ullman. The topics found in "Lex & Yacc" by Levine, Mason, and Brown
may also be useful.
The GitHub page for SLY can be found at:
https://github.com/dabeaz/sly
Please direct bug reports and pull requests to the GitHub page.
To contact me directly, send email to dave@dabeaz.com or contact
me on Twitter (@dabeaz).