Re: A Plain English Compiler

From	"Gerry Rzeppa" <gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com>
Newsgroups	comp.compilers
Subject	Re: A Plain English Compiler
Date	2014-10-30 14:53 -0500
Organization	Compilers Central
Message-ID	<14-10-018@comp.compilers> (permalink)
References	<14-10-005@comp.compilers> <06-02-122@comp.compilers> <06-02-125@comp.compilers> <14-10-006@comp.compilers>

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lesliedellow says, I wonder if the OP has a clue how compilers work?

Reply: We obviously know how compilers work having written a reliable,
efficient, and fully functioning one -- for Plain English, coded entirely in
Plain English.

lesliedellow says, If he has, he might want to try his hand at writing a BNF
grammar for English.

Reply: English is a natural language and, as such, cannot be entirely
reduced to a BNF; it must be compiled via a combination of heuristic
techniques. Our particular approach takes three swipes at the source code
using a mixture of recursive-descent parsing and a small collection of ad
hoc super- and sub-parsers. (Write me directly for a copy of the EBNF we use
for the recursive-descent part; it's less than 100 lines.) Note also that
our compiler is designed in such a way that the bulk of the vocabulary and
grammar -- nouns, verbs, adjectives, modes of expression, etc -- are not
hard-coded in the compiler, but are are automatically deduced when the
programmer, in his own source code, defines new types, variables, and
routines; the compiler focuses on that tiny and well-defined portion of
English that serves as glue for the rest: articles, prepositions, and
conjunctions.

See here for our next proposed steps and links to the current documentation,
source code, and executable prototype:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-hybrid-programming-language/x/8950932

Thread

Re: A Plain English Compiler gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com - 2014-10-24 16:33 -0700
  Re: A Plain English Compiler lesliedellow@gmail.com - 2014-10-25 06:01 -0700
    Re: A Plain English Compiler "Derek M. Jones" <derek@knosof.co.uk> - 2014-10-25 19:51 +0100
    Re: A Plain English Compiler "Gerry Rzeppa" <gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com> - 2014-10-30 14:53 -0500
  Re: A Plain English Compiler Martin Ward <martin@gkc.org.uk> - 2014-10-27 11:54 +0000
    Re: A Plain English Compiler Kartik Agaram <ak@akkartik.com> - 2014-10-27 12:25 -0700
      Re: A Plain English Compiler Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-10-27 21:45 +0000
        Re: reading and writing, was A Plain English Compiler Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2014-10-28 17:37 -0400
        Re: A Plain English Compiler Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2014-10-29 01:28 +0100
          Fw: A Plain English Compiler "Gerry Rzeppa" <gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com> - 2014-10-30 04:02 -0500
        Re: A Plain English Compiler mac <acolvin@efunct.com> - 2014-11-03 13:15 +0000
      Re: A Plain English Compiler Ivan Godard <ivan@ootbcomp.com> - 2014-10-27 15:07 -0700
      Re: A Plain English Compiler Martin Ward <martin@gkc.org.uk> - 2014-10-28 15:14 +0000
        Re: A Plain English Compiler Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2014-10-28 17:33 -0400
        Re: A Plain English Compiler "Gerry Rzeppa" <gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com> - 2014-10-30 17:05 -0500
          Re: A Plain English Compiler "Gerry Rzeppa" <gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com> - 2014-10-31 01:05 -0500
            Re: A Plain English Compiler "Gerry Rzeppa" <gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com> - 2014-10-31 21:22 -0500
      Fw: A Plain English Compiler "Gerry Rzeppa" <gerry.rzeppa@pobox.com> - 2014-10-30 04:01 -0500

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