This article describes structure-preserving coding patterns to code arbitrary
non-circular attribute grammars as syntax-directed translation schemes for
bottom-up and top-down parser generation tools. In these translation schemes,
semantic actions are written in terms of a small repertory of primitive
attribution operations. By providing alternative implementations for these
attribution operations, it is possible to plug in different semantic
evaluation strategies in a seamlessly way (e.g., a demand-driven strategy, or
a data-driven one). The pattern makes possible the direct implementation of
attribute grammar-based specifications with widely-used translation
schemedriven tools for the development of both bottom-up (e.g. YACC, BISON,
CUP) and top-down (e.g., JavaCC, ANTLR) language translators. As a
consequence, initial translation schemes can be successively refined to yield
final efficient implementations. Since these implementations still preserve
the ability to be extended with new features described at the attribute
grammar level, the advantages from the point of view of development and
maintenance become apparent.
Incremental parser generation for Tree Adjoining Grammars