Owl parser generator

Owl Parser Generator: Open-Source Java Parser Generator

Create parsers for programming languages and data formats with Owl, an open-source parser generator for Java. Automate most code generation for faster parser development.

What is Owl parser generator?

Owl is an open-source parser generator for Java that allows creating parsers for programming languages, data formats, and other text-based formats. It aims to simplify and speed up parser development by automatically generating most of the code needed for a parser.

Some key features of Owl include:

• Lexer and parser generation from grammar definitions
• Integrated AST builder
• Support for left recursion in grammars
• Good error reporting and recovery
• Modular architecture
• Integration with ANTLR for parsing performance

Owl generates Java code for lexers, parsers, abstract syntax tree builders, visitors, etc. from a grammar definition. This eliminates the need to manually write this code which can be tedious and error-prone. The generated code is clean and readable.

Owl allows left-recursive grammar rules making grammar definitions more intuitive in some cases. It also provides good error reporting with context information and error recovery to continue parsing after a syntax error.

The architecture of Owl is designed to be very modular. Components like the lexer, parser, AST builder are separate modules that can be combined or replaced easily. Owl can use ANTLR as a high-performance parser backend while still providing its own easy to use API.

Overall, Owl parser generator aims to take away the drudgery from writing parsers by hand, while providing high quality parser implementations that are robust and fast.

Owl parser generator Features

Official Links