Syntax Analysis

The syntax analysis is the essential step for the compilation of programs written in programming languages. In order to produce the object programs executable on the computer, the source program has to be analyzed with respect to its correctness, the correctness of the lexicon, syntax and semantics. And in general, the construction of the compiler puts the first two, i.e., the analysis of the lexicon and analysis of the syntax into a phase-the analysis phase. In the two analyses, obviously the syntax analysis is more important than the lexical analysis though it is the base of the former. In comparison with the lexical analysis, the syntax analysis has more issues to explore. In the development history of compilers many researchers and software engineers had devoted lots of their times to design methods for the syntax analysis. The syntax analysis had been regarded as the key to the success of compilers, and it was also regarded as the most arduous task in the construction of compilers. Now in the field of the syntax analysis there are many successful techniques that are widely used in the construction of compilers, especially in the design of the syntax analysis, we should introduce and discuss them in the book that devotes to the principles of compilers. The aim of this chapter is to explain the role of the syntax analysis and to introduce the important techniques used in the syntax analysis, and to compare these techniques in terms of their efficiency and easiness, etc.