From: Charles Comstock <cc1@...>
Date: 2005-05-02T05:04:28+09:00
Subject: Re: Thinking of creating a small mini-language-interpreter using Ruby

Glenn Smith wrote:
> Always something I've wanted to write - an interpreter of my own.  Now
> I'm not likely to produce the next 'Ruby', but the recent announcement
> of Fu's 'TAO', and other languages, make me wonder if I could write
> something similar.  Just for me, so to speak.  A bit of fun.
> 
> I did look at the possibility of going down the traditional route of
> [F]Lex/Yacc[Bison] and 'C', but it would be nice to write it in Ruby. 
> Alright, it would be one interpreted language interpreting another,
> but as I said, 'a bit of fun'.  That's if two small children and a
> scary wife allow me the time of course!!
> 
> I see there are ruby-lex and ruby-yacc modules on RAA - anybody used
> these in anger and are they complete/good-enough?
> 
> Has anybody done this kind of thing before?  Not being a) a genius, b)
> Matz, or c) the owner of a fine beard, can anybody recommend any good
> URL's/tutorials/perhaps even books?
> 
> I could grow a beard of course...
> 
> 
> 

I wrote a small sequencing FSM language as a domain language in Ruby and 
then wrote a racc parser to convert from a simpler syntax to the ruby 
domain language.  Racc takes a little bit to get used to but it works 
quite well and the runtime is included with every ruby install.

Charlie