Syntax Analysis

Abstract

Where lexical analysis splits the input into tokens, the purpose of syntax analysis (also known as parsing) is to recombine these tokens. Not back into a list of characters, but into something that reflects the structure of the text. This “something” is typically a data structure called the syntax tree of the text. As the name indicates, this is a tree structure. The leaves of this tree are the tokens found by the lexical analysis, and if the leaves are read from left to right, the sequence is the same as in the input text. Hence, what is important in the syntax tree is how these leaves are combined to form the structure of the tree and how the interior nodes of the tree are labelled. In addition to finding the structure of the input text, the syntax analysis must also reject invalid texts by reporting syntax errors. As syntax analysis is less local in nature than lexical analysis, more advanced methods are required. We, however, use the same basic strategy: A notation suitable for human understanding is transformed into a machine-like low-level notation suitable for efficient execution. This process is called parser generation.

“Syntax and vocabulary are overwhelming constraints—the rules that run us. Language is using us to talk—we think we’re using the language, but language is doing the thinking, we’re its slavish agents.”

Harry Mathews (1930–)