Re: Indirect left recursion in iXML grammars

Steven Pemberton <steven.pemberton@cwi.nl> writes:
> It's true that some parsing algorithms can't handle left-recursion, but ixml can, so again, I'm not sure what the use-case is here.

I’m not sure what you mean by “iXML can handle left-recursion”. The grammar can express left-recursive structures, sure, but it isn’t a parsing technology. (Maybe it could be, but I’m not aware of any “native iXML parsers”; all of the implementations I’ve seen implement iXML on top of Early or GLL or some other (combination of) parsers.)

If you want to implement iXML, you have to choose a parsing technology that can support hidden left recursion or you have to remove it somehow. I think the question here is, can it be removed in a way that preserves the structure of the original grammar.

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

--
Norm Tovey-Walsh
Saxonica

Received on Monday, 9 February 2026 16:14:39 UTC