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Interpreter: Main Topics What Is An Interpreter. Why Should We Learn About Them

The document discusses the interpreter pattern, which defines a representation for the grammar of a language and an interpretation algorithm to interpret sentences in that language. An interpreter uses a simple class hierarchy to represent each grammar rule and builds an abstract syntax tree to represent expressions in the language. Learning about interpreters makes programming easier by allowing problems to be expressed as simple languages that can be interpreted.

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Ali Ridho
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27 views

Interpreter: Main Topics What Is An Interpreter. Why Should We Learn About Them

The document discusses the interpreter pattern, which defines a representation for the grammar of a language and an interpretation algorithm to interpret sentences in that language. An interpreter uses a simple class hierarchy to represent each grammar rule and builds an abstract syntax tree to represent expressions in the language. Learning about interpreters makes programming easier by allowing problems to be expressed as simple languages that can be interpreted.

Uploaded by

Ali Ridho
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INTERPRETER

Main Topics
What is an Interpreter.
Why should we learn about them.
Simple Definition
Interpreter:
A medium through which unrecognized
information is changed into a form that
can be recognized.
Why Should we learn about
Interpreters
 Makes Your Life Easier
– Amount of work
– Amount of programming
– Adaptability to new situations
Why Should we learn about
Interpreters
 Makes Your Life Easier
– Amount of work

 If a problem occurs often enough, you might want to


express instances of the problem as a simple
language.

 Example: String Matching (Regular Expressions)


Why Should we learn about
Interpreters
 Makes Your Life Easier
– Amount of work

 The interpreter pattern describes how to define a


grammar for a simple language, how to represent
sentences in the language and interpret those
sentences
Why Should we learn about
Interpreters
 Makes Your Life Easier
– Amount of programming

 The interpreter pattern uses a simple class to


represent each grammar rule.

 First, some more definitions


More Definitions
– Literal Expression
 This determines if there is an exact match of two

objects ( operator = )

– Alternation Expression
 Is there an alternate expression that is acceptable

(operator | )

– Repetition Expression
 Does this repeat itself (operator * )
More Definitions
– Sequence Expression
 Determines if both objects are present (operator &)
Class Diagram

Every regular expression defined by this grammar is


represented by an abstract syntax tree made up of
instances of these classes. p.244
Syntax Tree
 This tree represents
the regular expression

– Raining & (dog | cat)*

– Diagram p.244
Why Should we learn about
Interpreters
 Makes Your Life Easier
– Amount of programming

 Works best when


– The grammar is simple
• (class hierarchy)
– Efficiency is not a concern
• (space & time management)
Collaboration Diagram

Participants:
AbstractExpression, TerminalExpression,
NonTerminalExpression, Context, Client. (p.245)
Pros & Cons of Interpreters

ANY GUESSES???
Pros & Cons of Interpreters
 It’s easy to change and extend the grammar
 Inheritance – existing expressions can be modified,
and new expressions can be defined as variations of
old ones

Implementing the grammar is ‘easy’ too.


 At least that’s what the book says

Adding new ways to interpret expressions.


 Flexible - Tokenizers
Pros & Cons of Interpreters
 Complex Grammars are hard to maintain
 The interpreter pattern defines at least one class for
each rule.
Implementation
 Creating the abstract syntax tree
 The interpreter pattern does not explain how to
create an abstract syntax tree.

 Sharing terminal symbols with the


flyweight pattern
 Grammars who’s sentences contain many
occurrences of a terminal symbol might benefit from
sharing a single copy of that symbol.
Implementation
 Creating the abstract syntax tree
 You can (but have the option of not) define the
Interpret operation in your expression classes.
– SequenceExpression, LiteralExpression… etc.
Known Uses
 The interpreter pattern is widely used in
compilers implemented with object oriented
languages
– Example: SmallTalk
Related Patterns
– Composite (p.163): the abstract syntax tree is
an instance of the composite pattern
– FlyWeight (p.193): shows how to share
terminal symbols within the abstract syntax
tree.
– Iterator (p.257): can be used to traverse the
structure.
– Visitor (p.331): can be used to maintain the
behavior in each node in the abstract syntax tree
in one class
Final Questions or Comments

•Sample code
•SmallTalk can be found on pages 248 – 251
•C++ can be found on pages 251 - 255

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