From: Rich Kilmer <rich@...>
Date: 2002-09-17T10:38:07+09:00
Subject: RE: Why are parser tools rarely used in ruby?

Just to put in a little plug for a friend...Bob Calco is actively
working on a c-parser for Ruby code based on Matz's parse.y file that
detaches the Ruby source parsing from the Runtime.  Its going to build
c-structures of the parsed AST and will be usable by Ruby programs (to
parse Ruby) examples of which are the FreeRIDE IDE for fast source
parsing.  It will also be useful for other languages that want to parse
Ruby (through C).

-Rich

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Massimiliano Mirra [mailto:list@NOSPAMchromatic-harp.com] 
> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 9:31 PM
> To: ruby-talk ML
> Subject: Re: Why are parser tools rarely used in ruby?
> 
> 
> On Tue, Sep 17, 2002 at 12:31:15AM +0900, MikkelFJ wrote:
> > So I just wonder - why are these tools not in more widespread use?
> 
> I tried doing some parsing in Ruby months ago.  No prior 
> experience in other languages.
> 
> Racc docs assumed experience with C parsers, but grokking C 
> docs and translating to Ruby and racc was over my head.
> 
> I got Rockit to work, understood the examples, and wrote some 
> very simple stuff.  It felt more Ruby-wayish than what I saw 
> in racc docs. Unfortunately, it seems like it's no longer developed.
> 
> I did not try rbison.
> 
> I guess that some introductory docs specifically aimed to 
> Ruby programmers could go a long way in spreading their use 
> (it sure would convince me).
> 
> 
> Massimiliano
> 
>