Computer Science 301 - Translators


Tutorial 3 - Some simple grammars

(a) One simple grammar for describing expressions is:

      Goal       = Expression .
      Expression = Term | Expression "-" Term .
      Term       = Factor | Term "*" Factor .
      Factor     = "a" | "b" | "c" | "d" .

Show the parse tree corresponding to the string a - b - c

(b) Another grammar is

      Goal       = Expression .
      Expression = Term | Term "-" Expression .
      Term       = Factor | Factor "*" Term .
      Factor     = "a" | "b" | "c" | "d" .

Show the parse tree corresponding to the string a - b - c and discuss the differences between this grammar and the last.

(c) Yet another grammar for describing expressions might be:

      Goal       = Expression .
      Expression = Term | Expression "*" Term .
      Term       = Factor | Term "-" Factor .
      Factor     = "a" | "b" | "c" | "d" .

Show the parse tree corresponding to the string a - b * c

(d) How does one find a grammar that will allow all four operators (+ - * and /) with the familiar precedence and associativity conventions, and will also allow for parentheses within expressions - so that one can derive strings like

(a - b) * (c + d)


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