Is it easier to write a recursive-descent parser using an EBNF or a BNF?
- by Vivin Paliath
I've got a BNF and EBNF for a grammar. The BNF is obviously more verbose. I have a fairly good idea as far as using the BNF to build a recursive-descent parser; there are many resources for this. I am having trouble finding resources to convert an EBNF to a recursive-descent parser. Is this because it's more difficult? I recall from my CS theory classes that we went over EBNFs, but we didn't go over converting them into a recursive-descent parser. We did go over converting BNF's into a recursive-descent parser.
The reason I'm asking is because the EBNF is more compact.
From looking at the EBNF's in general, I notice that terms enclosed between { and } can be converted into a while loop. Are there any other guidelines or rules?