Re: [boost] py_cpp and ILU?

From: Jan Dries (jdries_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-10-14 16:46:49

David Abrahams wrote:
> 
> > Now to something more concrete.  About this C++ parser.  What exactly
> > do you want?  I really dont know much about this kind of stuff.  Would
> > it be possible to create a c++ parser in python or does it have to be
> > in c++?  Python would be the easiest to code, right?
> 
> Well, maybe, but there are surely many existing parsers out there already in
> C/C++ using YACC and BISON. I think you'll find a BISON-based parser in the
> Doxygen sources.

Somewhere early 1999 I spent quite some effort to find a good parser for
C++. Unless things have changed since then, you will find it extremely
hard to find one that is reasonably complete and up to date with the C++
standard. The last time I looked at Doxygen, it didn't even have a Yacc
(Bison) based parser, but solved all in a lexer with states. The same by
the way holds for just about all these doc and related tools that
process C++ code, and they all choke on perfectly valid code at one
point or another. One of the reasons I was looking for such a parser was
because I wanted a better doc tool, one that would understand more of
the language.
I think that one of the only Yacc grammers that you can really trust
(and that is freely available) is the one you find in the GCC sources.
And I fear, as you also pointed out at the end of your mail, that if you
want something that really understands C++ well, you will end up needing
a much larger part from GCC than just the .y and .l files.

> 
> maybe-now-you-see-why-I'm-not-making-any-promises-ly y'rs,
> dave

couldn't-agree-with-you-more-ly y'rs,
Jan