I wrote the following parser in Scala using the parser combinators: import scala.util.parsing.combinator._ import scala.collection.Map import scala.io.StdIn object Keywords { val Define = "define" val True = "true" val False = "false" val If = "if" val Then = "then" val Else = "else" val Return = "return" val Pass = "pass" val Conj = ";" val OpenParen = "(" val CloseParen = ")" val OpenBrack = "{" val CloseBrack = "}" val Comma = "," val Plus = "+" val Minus = "-" val Times = "*" val Divide = "/" val Pow = "**" val And = "&&" val Or = "||" val Xor = "^^" val Not = "!" val Equals = "==" val NotEquals = "!=" val Assignment = "=" } //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sealed abstract class Op case object Plus extends Op case object Minus extends Op case object Times extends Op case object Divide extends Op case object Pow extends Op case object And extends Op case object Or extends Op case object Xor extends Op case object Not extends Op case object Equals extends Op case object NotEquals extends Op case object Assignment extends Op //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sealed abstract class Term case object TrueTerm extends Term case object FalseTerm extends Term case class FloatTerm(value : Float) extends Term case class StringTerm(value : String) extends Term case class Identifier(name : String) extends Term //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sealed abstract class Expression case class TermExp(term : Term) extends Expression case class UnaryOp(op : Op, exp : Expression) extends Expression case class BinaryOp(op : Op, left : Expression, right : Expression) extends Expression case class FuncApp(funcName : Term, args : List[Expression]) extends Expression //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sealed abstract class Statement case class ExpressionStatement(exp : Expression) extends Statement case class Pass() extends Statement case class Return(value : Expression) extends Statement case class AssignmentVar(variable : Term, exp : Expression) extends Statement case class IfThenElse(testBody : Expression, thenBody : Statement, elseBody : Statement) extends Statement case class Conjunction(left : Statement, right : Statement) extends Statement case class AssignmentFunc(functionName : Term, args : List[Term], body : Statement) extends Statement //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- class myParser extends JavaTokenParsers { val keywordMap : Map[String, Op] = Map( Keywords.Plus -> Plus, Keywords.Minus -> Minus, Keywords.Times -> Times, Keywords.Divide -> Divide, Keywords.Pow -> Pow, Keywords.And -> And, Keywords.Or -> Or, Keywords.Xor -> Xor, Keywords.Not -> Not, Keywords.Equals -> Equals, Keywords.NotEquals -> NotEquals, Keywords.Assignment -> Assignment ) def floatTerm : Parser[Term] = decimalNumber ^^ { case x => FloatTerm( x.toFloat ) } def stringTerm : Parser[Term] = stringLiteral ^^ { case str => StringTerm(str) } def identifier : Parser[Term] = ident ^^ { case value => Identifier(value) } def boolTerm : Parser[Term] = (Keywords.True | Keywords.False) ^^ { case Keywords.True => TrueTerm case Keywords.False => FalseTerm } def simpleTerm : Parser[Expression] = (boolTerm | floatTerm | stringTerm) ^^ { case term => TermExp(term) } def argument = expression def arguments_aux : Parser[List[Expression]] = (argument <~ Keywords.Comma) ~ arguments ^^ { case arg ~ argList => arg :: argList } def arguments = arguments_aux | { argument ^^ { case arg => List(arg) } } def funcAppArgs : Parser[List[Expression]] = funcEmptyArgs | ( Keywords.OpenParen ~> arguments <~ Keywords.CloseParen ^^ { case args => args.foldRight(List[Expression]()) ( (a,b) => a :: b ) } ) def funcApp = identifier ~ funcAppArgs ^^ { case funcName ~ argList => FuncApp(funcName, argList) } def variableTerm : Parser[Expression] = identifier ^^ { case name => TermExp(name) } def atomic_expression = simpleTerm | funcApp | variableTerm def paren_expression : Parser[Expression] = Keywords.OpenParen ~> expression <~ Keywords.CloseParen def unary_operation : Parser[String] = Keywords.Not def unary_expression : Parser[Expression] = operation(0) ~ expression(0) ^^ { case op ~ exp => UnaryOp(keywordMap(op), exp) } def operation(precedence : Int) : Parser[String] = precedence match { case 0 => Keywords.Not case 1 => Keywords.Pow case 2 => Keywords.Times | Keywords.Divide | Keywords.And case 3 => Keywords.Plus | Keywords.Minus | Keywords.Or | Keywords.Xor case 4 => Keywords.Equals | Keywords.NotEquals case _ => throw new Exception("No operations with this precedence.") } def binary_expression(precedence : Int) : Parser[Expression] = precedence match { case 0 => throw new Exception("No operation with zero precedence.") case n => (expression (n-1)) ~ operation(n) ~ (expression (n)) ^^ { case left ~ op ~ right => BinaryOp(keywordMap(op), left, right) } } def expression(precedence : Int) : Parser[Expression] = precedence match { case 0 => unary_expression | paren_expression | atomic_expression case n => binary_expression(n) | expression(n-1) } def expression : Parser[Expression] = expression(4) def expressionStmt : Parser[Statement] = expression ^^ { case exp => ExpressionStatement(exp) } def assignment : Parser[Statement] = (identifier <~ Keywords.Assignment) ~ expression ^^ { case varName ~ exp => AssignmentVar(varName, exp) } def ifthen : Parser[Statement] = ((Keywords.If ~ Keywords.OpenParen) ~> expression <~ Keywords.CloseParen) ~ ((Keywords.Then ~ Keywords.OpenBrack) ~> statements <~ Keywords.CloseBrack) ^^ { case ifBody ~ thenBody => IfThenElse(ifBody, thenBody, Pass()) } def ifthenelse : Parser[Statement] = ((Keywords.If ~ Keywords.OpenParen) ~> expression <~ Keywords.CloseParen) ~ ((Keywords.Then ~ Keywords.OpenBrack) ~> statements <~ Keywords.CloseBrack) ~ ((Keywords.Else ~ Keywords.OpenBrack) ~> statements <~ Keywords.CloseBrack) ^^ { case ifBody ~ thenBody ~ elseBody => IfThenElse(ifBody, thenBody, elseBody) } def pass : Parser[Statement] = Keywords.Pass ^^^ { Pass() } def returnStmt : Parser[Statement] = Keywords.Return ~> expression ^^ { case exp => Return(exp) } def statement : Parser[Statement] = ((pass | returnStmt | assignment | expressionStmt) <~ Keywords.Conj) | ifthenelse | ifthen def statements_aux : Parser[Statement] = statement ~ statements ^^ { case st ~ sts => Conjunction(st, sts) } def statements : Parser[Statement] = statements_aux | statement def funcDefBody : Parser[Statement] = Keywords.OpenBrack ~> statements <~ Keywords.CloseBrack def funcEmptyArgs = Keywords.OpenParen ~ Keywords.CloseParen ^^^ { List() } def funcDefArgs : Parser[List[Term]] = funcEmptyArgs | Keywords.OpenParen ~> repsep(identifier, Keywords.Comma) <~ Keywords.CloseParen ^^ { case args => args.foldRight(List[Term]()) ( (a,b) => a :: b ) } def funcDef : Parser[Statement] = (Keywords.Define ~> identifier) ~ funcDefArgs ~ funcDefBody ^^ { case funcName ~ funcArgs ~ body => AssignmentFunc(funcName, funcArgs, body) } def funcDefAndStatement : Parser[Statement] = funcDef | statement def funcDefAndStatements_aux : Parser[Statement] = funcDefAndStatement ~ funcDefAndStatements ^^ { case stmt ~ stmts => Conjunction(stmt, stmts) } def funcDefAndStatements : Parser[Statement] = funcDefAndStatements_aux | funcDefAndStatement def parseProgram : Parser[Statement] = funcDefAndStatements def eval(input : String) = { parseAll(parseProgram, input) match { case Success(result, _) => result case Failure(m, _) => println(m) case _ => println("") } } } object Parser { def main(args : Array[String]) { val x : myParser = new myParser() println(args(0)) val lines = scala.io.Source.fromFile(args(0)).mkString println(x.eval(lines)) } } The problem is, when I run the parser on the following example it works fine: define foo(a) { if (!h(IM) && a) then { return 0; } if (a() && !h()) then { return 0; } } But when I add threes characters in the first if statement, it runs out of memory. This is absolutely blowing my mind. Can anyone help? (I suspect it has to do with repsep, but I am not sure.) define foo(a) { if (!h(IM) && a(1)) then { return 0; } if (a() && !h()) then { return 0; } } EDIT: Any constructive comments about my Scala style is also appreciated.