Comparison of parser generators
This is a list of notable parsing systems.
Chart Key
The following key describes the columns used in the comparison chart below.
| Table Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Parser Algorithm | Each parsing system implements a special algorithm for analyzing a token stream and building a tree structure which corresponds to the syntax of the language as defined by a grammar. The different parsing algorithms are: LALR, LR(1), GLR, and LL. |
| Output Languages | Most parser generators output source code in one or more specific programming languages. This source code is used in the construction of the compiler, interpreter or translator. |
| Grammar/Code | If the grammar and source code are "mixed", the developer's source code is directly embedded into the grammar. This is the approach typically used by compiler-compilers. If "separated", the grammar and source-code are developed separately. |
| Lexer | The lexer is used to read characters and identify tokens and pass them to the parser. Lexers can be generated by the parser development software, a separate lexer generator or hand coded. |
| Development Platform | This is the required platform and/or operating system required to use the parser development software. |
| IDE | Some products feature an integrated development environment. |
| License | This column indicates the type end-user license offered by the author of the product. |
Comparison Charts
| Product | Website | Parsing Algorithm | Output Languages | Grammar / Code | Lexer | Development Platform | IDE | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACCENT | [1] | Earley | C | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| ANTLR | [2] | LL(*) | C#, Java, Python | Mixed | Generated | JVM | yes | BSD |
| AnaGram | [3] | LALR(1) | C, C++ | Mixed | Generated | Win32 | ? | Proprietary |
| APaGeD | [4] | GLR, LALR(1), LL(k) | D | Mixed | Generated | All | no | Artistic |
| APG | [5] | Recursive Descent | C, C++ | Separate | None | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Aurochs | [6] | Packrat | C, Ocaml, Java | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Beaver | [7] | LALR | Java | Mixed | External | JVM | no | BSD |
| Bison | [8] | LALR, GLR | C, C++ | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Bison++ | [9] | LALR(1) | C++ | Mixed | External | POSIX | No | GNU GPL |
| Bisonc++ | [10] | LALR(1) | C++ | Mixed | External | POSIX | No | GNU GPL |
| BtYacc | [11] | LALR | C++ | Mixed | External | All | no | Public domain |
| BYACC | [12] | LALR | C | Mixed | External | All | no | Public domain |
| BYACC/J | [13] | LALR | C, Java | Mixed | External (JFlex) | All | no | Public domain |
| CL-peg | [14] | Packrat | Common Lisp | Mixed | Generated | All | no | MIT |
| CL-Yacc | [15] | LALR(1) | Common Lisp | Mixed | External | All | no | MIT |
| Coco/R | [16] | LL(k) | C, C++, C#, F#, Java, Ada, Pascal, Modula-2, Oberon, Ruby, Unicon, Visual Basic .NET | Mixed | Generated | JVM, .NET | no | GNU GPL |
| CppCC | [17] | LL(k) | C++ | Mixed | Generated | POSIX | no | GNU GPL |
| CSP | [18] | LR(1) | C++ | Separate | Generated | POSIX | no | Apache License V2.0 |
| CSTools | [19] | LALR | C# | Mixed | Generated | .NET | no | ? |
| CUP | [20] | LALR | Java | Mixed | External (JLex) | JVM | no | GNU GPL |
| DMS Software Reengineering Toolkit | [21] | GLR | Parlanse | Mixed | Generated | Win32 | no | Proprietary |
| DParser | [22] | Scannerless GLR | C | Mixed | Generated | POSIX | no | BSD |
| Dragon | [23] | LR(1), LALR | C++, Java | Separate | Generated | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Drat! | [24] | Packrat | D | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Elkhound | [25] | GLR | C++, OCaml | Mixed | External | All | no | BSD |
| eli | [26] | LALR | C, others | Mixed | Generated | POSIX | no | GNU GPL, GNU LGPL |
| Essence | [27] | LR | Scheme (Scheme 48) | Mixed | External | All | no | BSD |
| eyapp | [28] | LALR(1) | Perl | Mixed | External | All | no | Perl |
| F# PegParser | [29] | Packrat | F# | Mixed | Generated | .NET | no | ? |
| Frisby | [30] | Packrat | Haskell | Mixed | Generated | All | no | BSD |
| Frown | [31] | LALR(k) | Haskell 98 | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| GDK | [32] | LALR(1), GLR | C, Delphi, Lex, Haskell, HTML, Java, Yacc | Mixed | Generated | POSIX | No | MIT |
| GOLD | [33] | LALR | x86 assembly language, ANSI C, C#, D, Delphi, Java, Pascal, Python, Visual Basic 6, Visual Basic .NET, Visual C++ | Separate | Generated | Win32 | yes | Freeware |
| grammar::peg | [34] | Packrat | TCL | Mixed | Generated | All | no | BSD |
| Grammatica | [35] | LL(k) | C#, Java | Separate | Generated | JVM | no | GNU LGPL |
| Happy | [36] | LALR, GLR | Haskell | Mixed | External | All | no | BSD |
| HiLexed | [37] | LL(k) | Java | Separate | Internal | JVM | no | GNU LGPL |
| Hyacc | [38] | LR(1) | C | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| jacc | [39] | LALR | Java | Mixed | External | JVM | no | BSD |
| JavaCC | [40] | LL(k) | Java | Mixed | Generated | JVM | yes | BSD |
| jay | [41] | LALR | C#, Java | Mixed | None | All | no | BSD |
| JetPAG | [42] | LL(k) | C++ | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU GPL |
| JS/CC | [43] | LALR(1) | JavaScript, JScript, ECMAScript | Mixed | Internal | All | yes | Artistic |
| Kelbt | [44] | Backtracking LALR(1) | C++ | Mixed | Generated | POSIX | no | GNU GPL |
| kmyacc | [45] | LALR(1) | C, Java, Perl, JavaScript | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Lapg | [46] | LALR | Java, Javascript, C, C++, C# | Mixed | Generated | JVM | no | GNU GPL |
| LEMON | [47] | LALR | C | Mixed | External | All | no | Public domain |
| Lime | [48] | LALR(1) | PHP | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| LISA | [49] | LR, LL, LALR, SLR | Java | Mixed | Generated | JVM | yes | Public Domain |
| LPeg | [50] | Parsing Machine | Lua | Mixed | Generated | All | no | MIT |
| LPG | [51] | Backtracking LALR | Java | Mixed | Generated | JVM | no | EPL |
| LLgen | [52] | LL(1) | C | Mixed | External | POSIX | no | BSD |
| LLnextgen | [53] | LL(1) | C | Mixed | External | POSIX | no | GNU GPL |
| LRGen | [54] | LR(1) | C++ | Separate | Generated | Win32 | no | Proprietary |
| Menhir | [55] | LR(1) | OCaml | Mixed | Generated | All | no | QPL |
| Mini Parser Generator | [56] | ? | Python | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU LGPL |
| ML-Yacc | [57] | LALR(1) | ML | Mixed | External | All | no | ? |
| Monkey | [58] | LR(1) | Java | Separate | Generated | JVM | no | GNU GPL |
| More Than Parsing | [59] | LL(1) | Java | Separate | Generated | JVM | no | GNU GPL |
| MyL Programming Language | [60] | ? | C#, Delphi, Java, JScript, SQL | Mixed | Generated | Win32 | no | Public domain |
| Narwhal | [61] | Packrat | C | Mixed | Generated | POSIX, Win32 | no | BSD |
| ocamlyacc | [62] | LALR(1) | OCaml | Mixed | External (Ocamllex) | All | no | QPL |
| olex | [63] | LL(1) | C++ | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Packrat | [64] | Packrat | Scheme | Mixed | Generated | All | no | MIT |
| Pappy | [65] | Packrat | Haskell | Mixed | Generated | All | no | Proprietary |
| Parsec (parser) | [66] | GLR | Haskell | Mixed | None | All | no | BSD |
| Parse::Yapp | [67] | LALR(1) | Perl | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| Parser Objects | ? | LL(k) | Java | Mixed | ? | JVM | no | zlib |
| Parsnip | [68] | Packrat | C++ | Mixed | Generated | Win32 | no | GNU GPL |
| peg | [69] | Recursive Descent (PEG) | C, C++ | Mixed | Generated | All | no | MIT |
| PEGTL | [70] | Recursive Descent (PEG) | C++0x | Mixed | Internal | POSIX | no | MIT |
| PGE | ? | Recursive Descent (PEG) | Parrot bytecode | Mixed | Generated | All | no | ? |
| PyPy rlib | [71] | Packrat | Python | Mixed | Generated | All | no | MIT |
| PLY | [72] | LALR(1) | Python | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU GPL |
| PRECC | [73] | LL(k) | C | Separate | Generated | MS-DOS, POSIX | no | GNU GPL |
| Rats! | [74] | PEG | Java | Mixed | Generated | JVM | no | GNU LGPL |
| QLALR | [75] | LALR(1) | C++ | Mixed | External | All | no | GNU GPL |
| SableCC | [76] | LALR | Java, C, C++, C#, OCaml, Python | Separate | Generated | All | no | GNU LGPL |
| Scannerless Boolean Parser | [77] | Scannerless GLR (Boolean Grammars) | Java, Haskell | Separate | Generated | All | no | BSD |
| SmaCC | [78] | LALR(1), LR(1) | Smalltalk | Mixed | Internal | All | yes | MIT |
| SLK | [79] | LL(k) | C, C++, C#, Java | Separate | External | All | no | Proprietary |
| SPARK | [80] | Earley | Python | Mixed | External | All | no | MIT |
| Spirit | [81] | LL(k) | C++ | Mixed | Internal | All | no | Boost |
| Styx | [82] | ? | C | Mixed | Generated | ? | All | GNU LGPL |
| Tap | [83] | LL(1) | C++ | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU GPL |
| TextTransformer | [84] | LL(k) | C++ | Mixed | Generated | Win32 | yes | Proprietary |
| Tom | [85] | LR(k) (Tomita) | C | Generated | None | All | no | Proprietary |
| Toy Parser Generator | [86] | Recusive Descent | Python | Mixed | Generated | All | no | GNU LGPL |
| TP Yacc | [87] | LALR(1) | Turbo Pascal | Mixed | External | All | yes | GNU GPL |
| Treetop | [88] | Recusive Descent (PEG) | Ruby | Mixed | Generated | All | no | ? |
| Yacc (AT&T) | ? | LALR | C, others | Mixed | External | POSIX | no | ? |
| Yacc++ | [89] | LR(k)/LALR(k) | C++, C# | Mixed | Generated or External | All | no | Proprietary |
| Yapps | [90] | LL(1) | Python | Mixed | Generated | All | no | MIT |
| Yard | [91] | Recursive Descent (PEG) | C++ | Mixed | Generated | All | no | MIT or Public Domain |
| yecc | [92] | LALR(1) | Erlang | Separate | Generated | All | no | Erlang |
| Visual BNF | [93] | LR(1)/LALR(1) | C# | Separate | Generated | .NET | yes | Proprietary |
| Visual Parse++ | [94] | LALR | C, C++, C#, Java | Separate | Generated | Win32 | yes | Proprietary |
| YooParse | [95] | LR | C++ | Mixed | External (YooLex) | All | no | MIT |
| Wisent | [96] | LALR(1) | C++, Java | Mixed | External | JVM | All | GNU GPL |
| Product | Website | Parsing Algorithm | Output Languages | Grammar / Code | Lexer | Development Platform | IDE | License |