[boost] Re: Formal Review: The Spirit Parser Framework.

From: Carl Daniel (cpdaniel_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-10-19 13:02:04

Summary:  I think that Spirit should be accepted into Boost.

Comments:

I've already posted a variety of documentation and code nits - I won't
repeat those.

I will echo the concern of others that the documentation, while excellent,
is also insufficient.  A complete reference section is absolutely necessary,
along with some significant discussion of theory of operation, and tradeoffs
between all the different mechanisms. e.g. When would I use a
rule/subrule/grammar?  Why is one better than the other?  Why do they all
exist?

It's been many years (15?) since any of my projects have needed a parser,
but I was able to build a parser for a moderately complex Pascal-like "4GL"
in about 3 hours, using one of the samples as a guide.  I expect a second
go-around would cut that development time in half (or better).

One concern I have, which I belive is based mostly in ignorance, is the
ability of a Spirit-generated parser to perform error recovery and issue
good error messages.  I didn't have time to experiment with the exceptions
and guards mechanism, so perhaps my concern is unfounded.

Great work Joel, Dan, Harmut, Martin, JCAB, and everyone else!

-cd