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Operator Precedence Grammar

Operator precedence grammars are a class of context-free grammars where: 1) No production rules have epsilon on the right-hand side 2) No production rules have two non-terminals adjacent to each other 3) They are widely used in programming language parsers. An operator precedence parser uses precedence relations between terminal symbols to parse strings according to an operator precedence grammar. It works by scanning for the lowest precedence operator and replacing its "handle" with the production rule. Some key aspects of operator precedence parsing include defining precedence relations, constructing a precedence table, and using precedence functions to map symbols to integers for efficient parsing of expressions.

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2K views

Operator Precedence Grammar

Operator precedence grammars are a class of context-free grammars where: 1) No production rules have epsilon on the right-hand side 2) No production rules have two non-terminals adjacent to each other 3) They are widely used in programming language parsers. An operator precedence parser uses precedence relations between terminal symbols to parse strings according to an operator precedence grammar. It works by scanning for the lowest precedence operator and replacing its "handle" with the production rule. Some key aspects of operator precedence parsing include defining precedence relations, constructing a precedence table, and using precedence functions to map symbols to integers for efficient parsing of expressions.

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Anonymous DFpzhrR
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Operator precedence grammar

Any grammar G is called an Operator precedence grammar if it meets the following


two conditions-
o There exists no production rule which contains ε (epsilon) on its right hand
side.
o There exists no production rule which contains two non-terminals adjacent to
each other on its right hand side.
o It represents a class of grammar that is small but important because of its
widespread applications.
Operator precedence parser-
A parser that reads and understands an operator precedence grammar is called as
Operator precedence parser.
Example of a grammar which is not an Operator precedence grammar-
E → EAE | (E) | -E | id
A→+|–|x|/|^
Example of a grammar which is an Operator precedence grammar-
E → E + E | E – E | E x E | E / E | E ^ E | (E) | -E | id
Designing an Operator precedence parser-
In operator precedence parsing, firstly precedence relations are defined between every pair of
terminal symbols and then operator precedence table is constructed.

 If precedence of b is higher than precedence of a, then we define a < b


 If precedence of b is same as precedence of a, then we define a = b
 If precedence of b is lower than precedence of a, then we define a > b

Rules to determine precedence relations-


The precedence relation between terminal symbols is determined by making use of
the traditional ideas of associative and operators’ precedence.
Remember these rules-
 Any identifier id will always be given higher precedence than the precedence of any
other symbol.
 Symbol $ will always be given the lowest precedence.
 If there exists two operators having the same precedence, then in that case, we go by
checking the associativity rule for that operator.
Steps for parsing any given string-
Step-01:
Insert-
 $ symbol at the beginning and at the ending of the input string.
 Precedence operator in the middle of each symbol of the string by referring the
designed precedence table.
Step-02:
 Start scanning the string from the left hand side until you find the > and keep a pointer
on its location.
 Now, start scanning the string in the backward direction until you find the <.
 Everything that lies in the middle of the two relations < and > forms the handle.
Replace handle with the head of the respective production.
 Keep repeating this step until you reach the start symbol.
Advantages of Operator precedence parsing-
 The implementation of this type of parsing is extremely easy and simple.
 This parser is quite powerful for expressions in programming languages.
Disadvantages of Operator precedence parsing-
The handling of tokens like minus sign which is known to have two different
precedence becomes difficult as it depends on if it is a unary minus operator or binary
minus operator.
 Only small class of grammars can be parsed using operator precedence parser.
Operator precedence functions-
 In practice, precedence table with the relations is not stored by the operator
precedence parsers because of the large space that it occupies.
 Instead, operator precedence parsers are implemented in a very unique style. They are
implemented using operator precedence functions.
 Precedence functions perform the mapping of terminal symbols to the integers. Then,
numerical comparison is performed for deciding the precedence relations between the
symbols. This reduces the space complexity to a large extent.

Problem-01:
Consider the following grammar and construct the operator precedence parser-
E → EAE | id
A→+|x
Then parse the following string: id + id x id
Solution-
Step-01: Convert the given grammar to operator precedence grammar-
The equivalent operator precedence grammar is-
E → E + E | E x E | id
Step-02: Construct the operator precedence table-
The terminal symbols are-
{ id, + , x , $ }
Operator Precedence Table-

id + x $

id > > >

+ < > < >

x < > > >

$ < < <

Parse the given string-


Step-01:
Given string to be parsed is:
id + id * id
Now, inserting $ at both the ends of the string, we get-
$ id + id * id $
Now, inserting precedence operators in between the string symbols, we get-
$ < id > + < id > * < id > $
Step-02: Scanning and Parsing-
$ < id > + < id > * < id > $
$ E + < id > *< id > $
$ E + E * < id > $
$ E + E *E $
$+*$
$<+<*>$
$<+>$
$$
Problem-02:
Consider the following grammar and construct the operator precedence parser-
S→(L)|a
L→L,S|S
Then parse the following string: (a , ( a , a ) )
Solution
The terminal symbols in the given grammar are-
{(,),a,,}
Now, we build the operator precedence table for these operators-
Operator Precedence Table

a ( ) , $
Parse the given string-
a > > > >
Step-01:
( < > > > >
Given string to be parsed is:
) < > > > > (a,(a,a))
, < < > > > Now, Inserting $ at both the ends of the string, we
$ < < < < get-
$(a,(a,a))$
Now, inserting precedence operators in between the string, we get-
$<(<a>,<(<a>,<a>)>)>$
Step-02: Scanning and Parsing-
$<(<a>,<(<a>,<a>)>)>$
$<(S,<(<a>,<a>)>)>$
$<(S,<(S,<a>)>)>$
$<(S,<(S,S)>)>$
$<(S,<(L,S)>)>$
$<(S,<(L)>)>$
$<(S,S)>$
$ < ( L, S ) > $
$ < ( L) > $
$<S>$
$$

Problem-03:
Consider the following grammar-
E → E + E | E * E | id
1. Construct Operator Precedence Parser
2. Find the Operator Precedence Functions

Solution-
The terminal symbols in the given grammar are-
{ + , * , id , $ }

Operator Precedence Table-

g→

f↓ id + * $

id > > >

+ < > < >

* < > > >


$ < < <
Operator precedence table

Now, the graph representing the precedence function is-

Graph representing precedence function

Here, the longest paths are-


 fid → gx → f+ → g+ → f$
 gid → fx → gx → f+ → g+ → f$

The resulting precedence functions are-

+ * id $

f 2 4 4 0

g 1 3 5 0

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