[antlr-interest] antlr or javacc?

[Li Li]

thanks.

On Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 6:06 AM, Andreas Stefik <stefika at gmail.com> wrote:

> Li Li,
>
> I have both implemented compilers in JavaCC and ANTLR and also taught
> classes in the same. Antlr wins, hands down, for at least the
> following reasons:
>
> 1. Antlr is more flexible
>
> 2. Antlr has great documentation and a rich community. The JavaCC
> documentation is truly awful.
>
> 3. Antlr has targets so you can use different platforms.
>
> 4. Antlr has rule rewriting and tree walkers. These features alone
> make writing a compiler much more pleasant.
>
> 5. Antlr has LL *, whereas if I recall JavaCC has fixed lookahead,
> which makes writing grammars a little less flexible.
>
> 6. Antlr has semantic predicates.
>
> 7. Antlr is actively developed. Last I checked, and it's been a while,
> javaCC wasn't a very active project.
>
> The list goes on and on. I have no vested interest in choosing either,
> but in my view, antlr is a far superior technology.
>
> Stefik
>