[antlr-interest] java.g forks

[Jeremy Rayner]

Hi there antlr-interest folk,
  First a bit of background... I'm currently working on the new groovy grammar
( http://groovy.codehaus.org ) and we're looking to replace the
existing hand-rolled
grammar with a more complete form.

  I'm currently looking at the 'java.g' file and it's many cousins, trying to
establish the best basis upon which to build the groovy grammar.
  We have an initial proposal of features added to an early 1.3 grammar,
but I feel that moving to a stable 1.5 grammar early on would be of benefit
to all. (Save the later pain...)

  I have noted the excellent work done by Terence, Matt Quail, 
Michael Stahl and Michael Studman. It does appear that there are
currently three live versions of the grammar, with only taste and
functionality between them.

  Terence very kindly pointed me at this analysis of the two 1.5 grammars
by Andy Tripp...
  http://www.antlr.org/pipermail/antlr-interest/2004-October/009742.html
  The vibe I am getting is that Michael Studman's work will become the trunk 
revision of the java.g file.

  It was all getting a little confusing, so I've tried to put the
current state of
java.g into diagrammatical form.

  http://groovy.javanicus.com/java-g.png

I guess I've got three questions

1) Is it generally accepted that Michael Studman's grammar will become core, or
is Michael Stahl's grammar that little bit more tasteful (and flexible)

2) Will the Java1.3 grammar continue, or will a firm decision be made soon; 
that you have one true java.g file again.

3) Do you like my pretty diagram :-)


Nice to meet you all,

jez.

P.S. As a footnote, I tried to create a Java1.5 language recognizer
myself using
Metsker's bpwj API and the preview JLSv3 spec last month (
http://tinyurl.com/46ugp )
It is amazing how much of the syntax chapter of the JLS is no longer
implementable,
instead it appears that since JLSv2 the syntax in chapter18 is a mix
of implementable
grammar and exposition grammar.  I've lodged a few specific issues
with their feedback
forms, I hope Sun takes the time to ensure that JLSv3 chapter 18 is
complete + correct.
-- 
http://javanicus.com/blog2