How do I handle left recursion in mpc?

mpc cannot parse left-recursive grammars; you must rewrite them by factoring out common prefixes or using iterative constructs, as explained in the limitations section with examples.

mpc vs Cesium3 for C parser combinators?

mpc avoids dependencies like Boehm GC and setjmp/longjmp, offering a more self-contained solution, but Cesium3 might have different trade-offs in features or performance for specific use cases.

How to build a JSON parser with mpc?

Use combinators or mpca_lang to define grammar rules for JSON structures, then apply functions to construct ASTs or direct values, similar to the maths language case study but adapted for JSON syntax.

Does mpc support error recovery or incremental parsing?

mpc provides basic error reporting but lacks built-in error recovery mechanisms; parsing typically stops on failure, so robust grammars must be designed to minimize errors.

Can mpc be used for tokenizing source code efficiently?

Yes, by defining token parsers with regular expressions and using mpc_many with apply functions, as demonstrated in the tokenizer case study, but performance may vary with large inputs.

What are the memory management pitfalls in mpc?

Users must carefully provide destructors for custom types to avoid leaks, especially with combinators like mpc_and that require destructors for partial results, as highlighted in the combinator documentation.

Open-Awesome

mpc

NOASSERTIONC0.9.0

A lightweight and powerful parser combinator library for C, enabling easy parsing of languages and data formats.

GitHub

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What is mpc?

mpc is a parser combinator library for C that allows developers to build parsers by combining smaller parsers using intuitive operators. It simplifies parsing tasks such as building programming languages, data formats, or domain-specific languages by enabling grammar specification directly or through combinators.

Target Audience

C developers building parsers for new or existing programming languages, data formats, or embedded domain-specific languages.

Value Proposition

Developers choose mpc for its simplicity, single-file integration, type-generic design, and powerful features like automatic error generation and regex support, all without external dependencies.

Overview

A Parser Combinator library for C

Use Cases

Best For

Building parsers for new programming languages in C
Parsing existing data formats like JSON or custom configurations
Embedding domain-specific languages within C applications
Creating tokenizers for text processing
Implementing mathematical expression evaluators
Developing tools that require grammar-based parsing without heavy dependencies

Not Ideal For

Projects requiring Unicode text parsing or international character support
Applications that need to parse binary data containing null characters
Environments where automatic garbage collection is preferred over manual memory management
Teams working with highly left-recursive grammars unwilling to refactor them

Pros & Cons

Pros

Single-File Simplicity

Distributed as a single ANSI C source file, mpc can be integrated into any C project with minimal setup, avoiding complex build dependencies.

Flexible Type System

Supports generic types through function pointers, allowing parsers to output custom data structures like ASTs or computed values, as shown in the maths language case study.

Automatic Error Reporting

Generates clear, contextual error messages automatically, such as expected tokens and line numbers, which aids in debugging without extra user code.

Grammar DSL Convenience

Includes mpca_lang for specifying grammars in a concise domain-specific language, enabling rapid parser development from string-based rules.

Cons

ASCII-Only Limitation

Explicitly does not support Unicode, restricting its use to ASCII text parsing, which is a significant drawback for modern international applications.

Manual Memory Overhead

Requires users to provide destructor and fold functions for custom types, increasing complexity and risk of memory leaks if not handled correctly.

Left Recursion Incompatibility

Cannot parse left-recursive grammars, forcing users to rewrite rules to avoid infinite loops, as admitted in the limitations section.

Frequently Asked Questions

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mpc