From lojbab@lojban.org Sat Jul 14 10:55:09 2001 Return-Path: X-Sender: lojbab@lojban.org X-Apparently-To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_2_0); 14 Jul 2001 17:55:09 -0000 Received: (qmail 5152 invoked from network); 14 Jul 2001 17:55:08 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by l7.egroups.com with QMQP; 14 Jul 2001 17:55:08 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO mailman1.cais.net) (205.252.14.61) by mta2 with SMTP; 14 Jul 2001 17:55:07 -0000 Received: from stmpy-1.cais.net (stmpy-1.cais.net [205.252.14.71]) by mailman1.cais.net (8.10.1/8.10.1) with ESMTP id f6EGkNv52805 for ; Sat, 14 Jul 2001 12:46:23 -0400 (EDT) Received: from bob.lojban.org (dynamic236.cl8.cais.net [205.177.20.236]) by stmpy-1.cais.net (8.11.1/8.11.1) with ESMTP id f6EGgpY90884 for ; Sat, 14 Jul 2001 12:42:51 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <4.3.2.7.2.20010714124253.00b6c2b0@127.0.0.1> X-Sender: vir1036/pop.cais.com@127.0.0.1 X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 4.3.2 Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 12:46:59 -0400 To: "Lojban@Yahoogroups. Com" Subject: Re: [lojban] the formal grammars' utility In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed From: "Bob LeChevalier (lojbab)" At 04:40 PM 07/14/2001 +0100, And Rosta wrote: >1. What use is the EBNF grammar, given that it can't be used instead of >YACC? Some people find it easier to understand than the YACC grammar because the rules are compressed into a more language-grammar-like form. >2. Is there a downloadable version of YACC ordered alphabetically (or >in any way such that one knows whereabouts in the rule list to find the >expansion for a given node)? The YACC grammar in the Book has an index that provides this. >3. Has anybody created a more succinct but unabbreviated (and, ideally, >more intuitive) version of the YACC grammar? You just said why people use the EBNF. If the YACC grammar could be more succinct, we would. The EBNF covers the whole language, so it is more succinct and unabbreviated. Its weakness is that it is not proven equivalent to the YACC, so mistakes in obscure places could still surface. lojbab -- lojbab lojbab@lojban.org Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc. 2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273 Artificial language Loglan/Lojban: http://www.lojban.org