Skip to content
HomeVideosBooks
AllTopicsTrends
BlogsPodcasts
HistoryListsWatch laterLiked videosFollowing

The videos, books, blogs and podcasts Hacker News keeps recommending, all in one place.

VideosBooksBlogsPodcastsAboutPrivacySettings

Data from Hacker News, HackerTube, HackerBooks, HackerBlogs and Open Library. Credits · Not affiliated with Y Combinator.

HomeVideosBooksBlogsPodcasts
Ctrl K
    Cover of Parsing Techniques

    Parsing Techniques

    Dick Grune · 2007

    "To provide readers with low-threshold access to the full field of parsing techniques, this book uses a two-tiered structure. The basic ideas behind the existing parsing techniques are explained in an intuitive and narrative style, starting from the first principles of data structures and algorithms; this provides breadth and accessibility. The hundreds of realizations and improvements of these basic ideas are explained in an extensive annotated bibliography, in a much terser, yet still informal, style; this provides depth. The reader should have an understanding of algorithmic thinking, especially recursion; however, knowledge of any particular programming language is not required."--Jacket.

    Computer Science
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    16recommend
    23mentions
    19people
    2011–2025years
    78% recommend17% neutral4% critical

    Mentions per year

    20112013201520172019202120232025

    What Hacker News says

    1. matheusmoreiraApr 2024
      I love that book. Parsing Techniques is even more detailed. It's still pretty hard. Easy would be a parse(grammar, input) function in the standard library. Earley algorithm is perfect for that. I wonder why no one's thought of it.
      thread
    2. g9yuayonOct 2022
      Nostalgia time! When I graduated years ago, Knuth's books were still all the rage because the central themes in the CS departments in universities were fundamentals: algorithms, compiler theory, operating systems and what not. We referenced TAOCP for implementing the priority queue using fibonacci heap for our OS projects. We studied chapters on vol 2 for some of the numerical algorithms, and etc. We read Parsing Techniques cover to cover to understand how to write a parser. We still carefully studied AI: A Modern Approach and the dragon/dinosaur/tiger book. Every once in a while a discussion on Knuth's work went to the first page of HN or Programming Reddit. Then, we got more and more mature libraries, and we rarely needed to understand 10 different algorithms that solve the same class of problems. Consequently, we got fewer discussion about Knuth's work too. Of course, it's super fun to read his meticulous discussion of combinatorial algorithms in Vol 4. It just that TAOCP does not appear as essential to as many people as a decode ago.
      thread
    3. layer8Apr 2022
      This might be what you’re looking for: https://www.amazon.com/Parsing-Techniques-Practical-Monograp...

      Not exactly cheap, but pretty good.

      There’s also https://www.amazon.com/Automata-Formal-Languages-Turing-Mach... which focuses more on the Chomsky hierarchy and automata, and doesn’t go into practical parsers and the related grammar types like the first book.

      thread
    4. davegauerApr 2022
      Yeah, _Automata, Formal Languages, and Turing Machines_ looks like a good topic match (it seems "formal language" is the keyword I was missing?) and Parsing Techniques sounds like an excellent book as well. Thanks for the recommendations!
      thread
    5. alfiedotwtfFeb 2022
      After reading Parsing Techniques by Grune and Jacobs, I wanted to write a parser in Rust... I got it working in the end, but took me at least 6 months.

      Nobody uses it, not even me... but damn was I happy when all the tests passed for the first time

      https://github.com/alfiedotwtf/gallop

      thread
    6. samhwDec 2021
      I've done a moderate amount of compiler work, and the resources I'd recommend are:

      - "Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools" (v popular, generally referred to as the 'dragon book' on account of its cover): http://ce.sharif.edu/courses/94-95/1/ce414-2/resources/root/...

      - "Parsing Techniques": https://staff.polito.it/silvano.rivoira/LingTrad/ParsingTech...

      - Not quite about compilers, but the website 'Crafting Interpreters' touches on the pre-compilation parts of a compiler (scanning, lexing, parsing, optimisation): https://www.craftinginterpreters.com/

      - If you're compiling a typed language, this blog post is a good intro to type inference algorithms, esp with a view to implementing a Hindley-Milner (bidirectional) type system: https://eli.thegreenplace.net/2018/type-inference/

      I highly, highly recommend at least trying to write a compiler or interpreter. It's a fantastic way to understand more about PL theory, and improve your proficiency with data structures and algorithms.

      As for functional programming, it's basically the art of removing the word 'self' from your programs.

      thread

    Related

    Cover of Parsing Techniques A Practical Guide
    2009–2023

    Parsing Techniques A Practical Guide

    Ceriel Jacobs
    7 recommend · 15
    Cover of Compilers, principles, techniques, and tools
    2007–2026

    Compilers, principles, techniques, and tools

    Alfred V. Aho
    195 recommend · 958
    Cover of Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
    2007–2026

    Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

    Harold Abelson
    347 recommend · 761
    Cover of Crafting Interpreters
    2017–2026

    Crafting Interpreters

    Robert Nystrom
    295 recommend · 521
    Cover of Sorting and searching
    2010–2026

    Sorting and searching

    Donald Knuth
    10 recommend · 42
    Cover of Language Implementation Patterns
    2010–2025

    Language Implementation Patterns

    Terence Parr
    18 recommend · 31
    Cover of Introduction to Algorithms
    2007–2026

    Introduction to Algorithms

    Thomas H. Cormen
    274 recommend · 880
    Cover of Mastering Regular Expressions
    2008–2025

    Mastering Regular Expressions

    Jeffrey E. F. Friedl
    58 recommend · 115