In the previous article, we skimmed the surface of automated text parsing and set the stage for our impending exploration of the GLL algorithm itself. However, before we can move ahead and do just that, we should first build up some idea of what the requirements are for truly generalized parsing and what sort [...]
Generalized parsing is probably the most misunderstood topic in the entire field of automated language processing. There is a persistent perception that generalized parsing is slow and impractical. Even worse, most people seem to believe that generalized parsing is complicated and unpredictable (a perception deriving from the extremely obfuscated nature of most generalized [...]
XML is probably one of Scala’s most controversial language features (right behind unrestricted operator overloading). On the one hand, it’s very nice to be able to simply embed XML fragments and XPath-like expressions within your Scala source code. At least, it’s certainly a lot nicer than the string-literal approach that is required in [...]
If you’re like me, one of the first things that attracted you to Scala was its parser combinators. Well, maybe that wasn’t the first thing for me, but it was pretty far up there. Parser combinators make it almost too easy to create a parser for a complex language without ever leaving the comfortable play-pen [...]
Sometimes, the simplest things are the most difficult to explain. Scala’s interoperability with Java is completely unparalleled, even including languages like Groovy which tout their tight integration with the JVM’s venerable standard-bearer. However, despite this fact, there is almost no documentation (aside from chapter 29 in Programming in Scala) which shows how this Scala/Java integration [...]