Experience with a Graham-Glanville style code generator

Abstract

3. Syntax and S e m a n t i c s A m a j o r i ssue in des igning a G r a h a m Glanville s ty le code g e n e r a t o r is the d e g r e e of s y n t a c t i c or s e m a n t i c spec i f i ca t ion of t h e t a r g e t mach ine . Broad ly speak ing , the " s y n t a c t i c " c o m p o n e n t of the spec i f i ca t ion is the m a c h i n e d e s c r i p t i o n g r a m m a r . The " s e m a n t i c " c o m p o n e n t s a r e the s e m a n t i c a t t r i b u t e s , s e m a n t i c p r e d i c a t e s , s e m a n t i c ac t ions , and eva lua t ion o r d e r c o n s t r a i n t s inf luencing the pa r s ing ac t ions . Any m a c h i n e d e s c r i p t i o n m e t h o d o l o g y is l ikely to use t he s a m e in fo rma t ion , b u t the i n f o r m a t i o n is d e s c r i b e d and c o n s i d e r e d by the p a r s e r in d i f f e ren t ways. S o m e r e s e a r c h e r s r e ly heavi ly on the s e m a n t i c c o m p o n e n t s [GaFS~], while o the r s , including ourse lves , have e m p h a s i z e d the use of syn tax .