BOTTOM-UP PARSING

Bottom-up parsing corresponds to the construction of a parse tree for an input string
beginning at the leaves (the bottom nodes) and working up towards the root (the top node). It
involves ―reducing an input string ‗w‘ to the Start Symbol of the grammar. in each reduction
step, a perticular substring matching the right side of the production is replaced by symbol on the
left of that production and it is the Right most derivation. For example consider the following
Grammar:
E E+T|T
T T*F
F (E)|id
Bottom up parsing of the input string “id * id “is as follows:

INPUT STRING SUB STRING REDUCING PRODUCTION

id*id Id F->id
F*id T F->T
T*id Id F->id
T*F * T->T*F
T T*F E->T
Start symbol. Hence, the input
E
String is accepted
Parse Tree representation is as follows:

Figure 3.1 : A Bottom-up Parse tree for the input String “id*id”
Bottom up parsing is classified in to 1. Shift-Reduce Parsing, 2. Operator Precedence parsing ,
and 3. [Table Driven] L R Parsing
i. SLR( 1 ) ii.
CALR ( 1 )
iii.LALR( 1 )
 SHIFT-REDUCE PARSING:
Shift-reduce parsing is a form of bottom-up parsing in which a stack holds grammar
symbols and an input buffer holds the rest of the string to be parsed, We use $ to mark the bottom
of the stack and also the right end of the input. And it makes use of the process of shift and
reduce actions to accept the input string. Here, the parse tree is Constructed bottom up from the
leaf nodes towards the root node.
When we are parsing the given input string, if the match occurs the parser takes the
reduce action otherwise it will go for shift action. And it can accept ambiguous grammars also.
For example, consider the below grammar to accept the input string ―id * id―, using S-R
parser
E E+T|T
T T*F | F
F (E)|id
Actions of the Shift-reduce parser using Stack implementation

STACK INPUT ACTION

$ Id*id$ Shift
$id *id$ Reduce with F d
$F *id$ Reduce with T F
$T *id$ Shift
$T* id$ Shift
$T*id $ Reduce with F id
$T*F $ Reduce with T T*F
$T $ Reduce with E T
$E $ Accept

Consider the following grammar:

S aAcBe
A Ab|b
B d
Let the input string is ―abbcde‖. The series of shift and reductions to the start symbol are as
follows.
abbcde aAbcde aAcde aAcBe S
Note: in the above example there are two actions possible in the second Step, these are as
follows :
1. Shift action going to 3rd Step
2. Reduce action, that is A->b
If the parser is taking the 1st action then it can successfully accepts the given input string,

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if it is going for second action then it can‘t accept given input string. This is called shift reduce
conflict. Where, S-R parser is not able take proper decision, so it not recommended for parsing.
OPERATOR PRECEDENCE PARSING:
Operator precedence grammar is kinds of shift reduce parsing method that can be applied to a
small class of operator grammars. And it can process ambiguous grammars also.  An
operator grammar has two important characteristics:
1. There are no € productions.
2. No production would have two adjacent non terminals.
 The operator grammar to accept expressions is give below:
E E+E / E E-E / E E*E / E E/E / E E^E / E -E / E (E) / E id
Two main Challenges in the operator precedence parsing are:
1. Identification of Correct handles in the reduction step, such that the given input should be
reduced to starting symbol of the grammar.
2. Identification of which production to use for reducing in the reduction steps, such that we
should correctly reduce the given input to the starting symbol of the grammar. Operator
precedence parser consists of:
1. An input buffer that contains string to be parsed followed by a$, a symbol used to
indicate the ending of input.
2. A stack containing a sequence of grammar symbols with a $ at the bottom of the stack.
3. An operator precedence relation table O, containing the precedence ralations between the
pair of terminal. There are three kinds of precedence relations will exist between the pair
of terminal pair ‗a‘ and ‗b‘ as follows:
4. The relation a<•b implies that he terminal ‗a‘ has lower precedence than terminal ‗b‘.
5. The relation a•>b implies that he terminal ‗a‘ has higher precedence than terminal ‗b‘.

6. The relation a=•b implies that he terminal ‗a‘ has lower precedence than terminal ‗b‘.
7. An operator precedence parsing program takes an input string and determines whether it
conforms to the grammar specifications. It uses an operator precedence parse table and
stack to arrive at the decision.

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 a1 a2 a3 ……….. $ Input Buffer

Operator precedence
Parsing Algorithm
Output

$
Stack

Operator Precedence Table

Figure3.2: Components of operator precedence parser

Example, If the grammar is

E E+E
E E-E
E E*E
E E/E
E E^E
E -E
E (E) E id , Construct operator precedence table and accept input string “
id+id*id”

The precedence relations between the operators are

( id ) > ( ^ ) > ( * / ) > ( + - ) > $ , „^‟ operator is Right Associative and reaming all operators
are Left Associative
+ - * / ^ id ( ) $
+ •> •> <• <• <• <• <• •> •>
- •> •> <• <• <• <• <• •> •>
* •> •> •> •> <• <• <• •> •>
/ •> •> •> •> <• <• <• •> •>
^ •> •> •> •> <• <• <• •> •>
Id •> •> •> •> •> Err Err •> •>
( <• <• <• <• <• <• <• = Err
) •> •> •> •> •> Err Err •> •>
$ <• <• <• <• <• <• <• Err Err

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 The intention of the precedence relations is to delimit the handle of the given input String with <•
marking the left end of the Handle and •> marking the right end of the handle. Parsing
Action:
To locate the handle following steps are followed:
1. Add $ symbol at the both ends of the given input string.
2. Scan the input string from left to right until the right most •> is encountered.
3. Scan towards left over all the equal precedence‘s until the first <• precedence is
encountered.
4. Every thing between <• and •> is a handle.
5. $ on S means parsing is success.
Example, Explain the parsing Actions of the OPParser for the input string is “id*id” and the
grammar is:
E E+E
E E*E
E id
1. $ <• id •> *<• id•> $

The first handle is ‗id‘ and match for the ‗id ‗in the grammar is E id .
So, id is replaced with the Non terminal E. the given input string can be
written as
2. $ <• E •> *<• id•> $
The parser will not consider the Non terminal as an input. So, they are
not considered in the input string. So , the string becomes 3. $ <• *<• id•> $

The next handle is ‗id‘ and match for the ‗id ‗in the grammar is E id .
So, id is replaced with the Non terminal E. the given input string can be
written as
4. $ <• *<• E•> $
The parser will not consider the Non terminal as an input. So, they are not
considered in the input string. So, the string becomes
5. $ <• * •> $

The next handle is ‗*‘ and match for the ‗ ‗in the grammar is E E*E. So, id is
replaced with the Non terminal E. the given input string can be
written as
6. $ E $

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 The parser will not consider the Non terminal as an input. So, they are not
considered in the input string. So, the string becomes
7. $ $
$ On $ means parsing successful.
Operator Parsing Algorithm:
The operator precedence Parser parsing program determines the action of the parser depending
on
1. ‗a‘ is top most symbol on the Stack
2. ‗b‘ is the current input symbol
There are 3 conditions for ‗a‘ and ‗b‘ that are important for the parsing program
1. a=b=$ , the parsing is successful
2. a <• b or a = b, the parser shifts the input symbol on to the stack and advances the
input pointer to the next input symbol.
3. a •> b, parser performs the reduce action. The parser pops out elements one by
one from the stack until we find the current top of the stack element has lower
precedence than the most recently popped out terminal.
Example, the sequence of actions taken by the parser using the stack for the input string ―id *
id ― and corresponding Parse Tree are as under.

STACK INPUT OPERATIONS

$ id * id $ $ <• id, shift ‗id‘ in to stack
$ id *id $ id •> *, reduce ‗id‘ using E-> id
$E *id $ $ <• *, shift ‗*‘ in to stack
$E* id$ * <• id , shift ‗id‘ in to Stack
$E*id $ id •> $, reduce ‗id‘ using E->id
$E*E $ *•> $, reduce ‗*‘ using E->E*E
$E $ $=$=$, so parsing is successful
E

E E *

id id
Advantages and Disadvantages of Operator Precedence Parsing:
The following are the advantages of operator precedence parsing
1. It is simple and easy to implement parsing technique.
2. The operator precedence parser can be constructed by hand after understanding the
grammar. It is simple to debug.

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The following are the disadvantages of operator precedence parsing:
1. It is difficult to handle the operator like ‗-‗which can be either unary or binary and hence
different precedence‘s and associativities.
2. It can parse only a small class of grammar.
3. New addition or deletion of the rules requires the parser to be re written.
4. Too many error entries in the parsing tables.

LR Parsing:
Most prevalent type of bottom up parsing is LR (k) parsing. Where, L is left to right scan of the
given input string, R is Right Most derivation in reverse and K is no of input symbols as the
Look ahead.

 It is the most general non back tracking shift reduce parsing method
 The class of grammars that can be parsed using the LR methods is a proper superset of
the class of grammars that can be parsed with predictive parsers.

 An LR parser can detect a syntactic error as soon as it is possible to do so, on a left to

right scan of the input.

a1 a2 a3 ………. $ Input Buffer

OUTPUT
LR PARSING ALGORTHM

Shift GOTO
Stack
LR Parsing Table

Figure 3.3: Components of LR Parsing

LR Parser Consists of

7 | Page
  An input buffer that contains the string to be parsed followed by a $ Symbol, used to
indicate end of input.
 A stack containing a sequence of grammar symbols with a $ at the bottom of the stack,
which initially contains the Initial state of the parsing table on top of $.
 A parsing table (M), it is a two dimensional array M[ state, terminal or Non terminal] and
it contains two parts
1. ACTION Part
The ACTION part of the table is a two dimensional array indexed by state and the
input symbol, i.e. ACTION[state][input], An action table entry can have one of
following four kinds of values in it. They are:
1. Shift X, where X is a State number.
2. Reduce X, where X is a Production number.
3. Accept, signifying the completion of a successful parse.
4. Error entry.
2. GO TO Part
The GO TO part of the table is a two dimensional array indexed by state and a
Non terminal, i.e. GOTO[state][NonTerminal]. A GO TO entry has a state number
in the table.
 A parsing Algorithm uses the current State X, the next input symbol ‗a‘ to consult the
entry at action[X][a]. it makes one of the four following actions as given below:
1. If the action[X][a]=shift Y, the parser executes a shift of Y on to the top of the stack
and advances the input pointer.
2. If the action[X][a]= reduce Y (Y is the production number reduced in the State X), if
the production is Y->β, then the parser pops 2*β symbols from the stack and push Y
on to the Stack.
3. If the action[X][a]= accept, then the parsing is successful and the input string is
accepted.
4. If the action[X][a]= error, then the parser has discovered an error and calls the error
routine.
The parsing is classified in to
1. LR ( 0 )

2. Simple LR ( 1 )

3. Canonical LR ( 1 )

4. Look ahead LR ( 1 )

LR (1) Parsing: Various steps involved in the LR (1) Parsing:

1. Write the Context free Grammar for the given input string
2. Check for the Ambiguity

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 3. Add Augment production
4. Create Canonical collection of LR ( 0 ) items
5. Draw DFA
6. Construct the LR ( 0 ) Parsing table
7. Based on the information from the Table, with help of Stack and Parsing algorithm
generate the output.
Augment Grammar
The Augment Grammar G`, is G with a new starting symbol S` an additional production
S` S. this helps the parser to identify when to stop the parsing and announce the acceptance of
the input. The input string is accepted if and only if the parser is about to reduce by S` S. For
example let us consider the Grammar below:

E E+T|T
T T*F
F (E) | id the Augment grammar G` is Represented by

E` E
E E+T|T T T*F
F (E) | id
NOTE: Augment Grammar is simply adding one extra production by preserving the actual
meaning of the given Grammar G. Canonical collection of LR (0) items

LR (0) items
An LR (0) item of a Grammar is a production G with dot at some position on the right
side of the production. An item indicates how much of the input has been scanned up to a given
point in the process of parsing. For example, if the Production is X YZ then, The LR (0) items
are:
1. X •AB, indicates that the parser expects a string derivable from AB.
2. X A•B, indicates that the parser has scanned the string derivable from the A and
expecting the string from Y.
3. X AB•, indicates that he parser has scanned the string derivable from AB.
If the grammar is X € the, the LR (0) item is
X •, indicating that the production is reduced one.
Canonical collection of LR(0) Items:
This is the process of grouping the LR (0) items together based on the closure and Go to
operations

Closure operation
If I is an initial State, then the Closure (I) is constructed as follows:

9 | Page
 1. Initially, add Augment Production to the state and check for the • symbol in the Right
hand side production, if the • is followed by a Non terminal then Add Productions
which are Stating with that Non Terminal in the State I.
2. If a production X α•Aβ is in I, then add Production which are starting with X in the
State I. Rule 2 is applied until no more productions added to the State I( meaning that
the • is followed by a Terminal symbol).
Example : LR (0) items for the Grammar is E` • E E
0. E` E •E+T
1. E T •F
E+T T •T*F
2. T F F • (E)
3. T
F • id
T*F
4. F (E)
5. F id

Closure (I0) State

Add E ` • E in I0 State
Since, the ‗•‘ symbol in the Right hand side production is followed by A Non
terminal E. So, add productions starting with E in to Io state. So, the state
becomes
E` •E
0. E •E+T
1. T •F
The 1st and 2nd productions are satisfies the 2nd rule. So, add productions
which are starting with E and T in I0
Note: once productions are added in the state the same production should
not added for the 2nd time in the same state. So, the state becomes
0. E` •E
1. E •E+T
2. T •F
3. T •T*F
4. F •(E)
5. F • id

GO TO Operation
Go to (I0, X), where I0 is set of items and X is the grammar Symbol on which we
are moving the „•‟ symbol. It is like finding the next state of the NFA for a give State I 0 and the
input symbol is X. For example, if the production is E •E+T

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0
Go to (I0, E) is E` •E, E E•+T

1 | Page
1
12 |
 Ii
Ii

For Example, Construct the LR (0) parsing Table for the given Grammar (G)
S aB
B bB | b
Sol: 1. Add Augment Production and insert „•‟ symbol at the first position for every
production in G
0. S′ •S
1. S •aB
2. B •bB
3. B •b
I0 State:
1. Add Augment production to the I0 State and Compute the Closure

I0 = Closure ( S′ •S)
Since ‗•‘ is followed by the Non terminal, add all productions starting with S in to I 0 State. So,
the I0 State becomes
I0 = S′ •S
S •aB Here, in the S production ‗.‘ Symbol is followed by a terminal value so close
the state. I1= Go
to (I0, S)
S` S•
Closure( S` S•) = S′ S• Here, The Production is reduced so close the State.

I1= S′ S•

I2= Go to ( I0, a) = closure (S a•B)

Here, the ‗•‘ symbol is followed by The Non terminal B. So, add the productions which are
Starting B.
I2= B •bB
B •b Here, the ‗•‘ symbol in the B production is followed by the terminal value. So, Close
the State.

I2= S a•B
B •bB

13 |
14 |
LR Parsing Table:

ACTION GOTO
States
a B $ S B
I0 S2 1
I1 ACC
I2 S4 3
I3 R1 R1 R1
I4 R3 S4/R3 R3 5
I5 R2 R2 R2

Note: if there are multiple entries in the LR (1) parsing table, then it will not accepted by the
LR(1) parser. In the above table I3 row is giving two entries for the single terminal value ‗b‘ and
it is called as Shift- Reduce conflict.

Shift-Reduce Conflict in LR (0) Parsing: Shift Reduce Conflict in the LR (0) parsing occurs
when a state has
1. A Reduced item of the form A α• and
2. An incomplete item of the form A

States
1 A-> β•a α Action GOTO
a
2 B->b• Ij a $ A B
Ii Sj/r2 r2

Ij
Ii
β•aα
as shown below:

Reduce - Reduce Conflict in LR (0) Parsing:

Reduce- Reduce Conflict in the LR (1) parsing occurs when a state has two or more reduced
items of the form

15 |
1. A α•
2. B β• as shownbelow:

Ii :
States Action GOTO
1 A-> α•
a $ A B
2 B->β•
Ii r1/r2 r1/ r2

Page

16 |
SLR PARSER CONSTRUCTION: What is SLR (1) Parsing
Various steps involved in the SLR (1) Parsing are:

1. Write the Context free Grammar for the given input string

2. Check for the Ambiguity

3. Add Augment production

4. Create Canonical collection of LR ( 0 ) items

5. Draw DFA
6. Construct the SLR ( 1 ) Parsing table
7. Based on the information from the Table, with help of Stack and Parsing algorithm
generate the output.

SLR (1) Parsing Table Construction

Once we have Created the canonical collection of LR (0) items, need to follow the steps
mentioned below:

If there is a transaction from one state (Ii ) to another state(Ij ) on a terminal value then,
we should write the shift entry in the action part as shown below:

a States ACTION GO TO
A->α•aβ A->αa•β a $ A

Ii Ii I j Sj

Ij

If there is a transaction from one state (Ii ) to another state (Ij ) on a Non terminal value
then, we should write the subscript value of Ii in the GO TO part as shown below: part as shown
below:

A States ACTION GO TO
A->α•Aβ A->αA•β a $ A

Ii j

Ij
 Ii Ij

1 If there is one state (Ii), where there is one production ( A->αβ•) which has no transitions
to the next State. Then, the production is said to be a reduced production. For all
terminals X in FOLLOW (A), write the reduce entry along with their production
numbers. If the Augment production is reducing then write accept.

1 S -> •aAb

2 A->αβ•
Follow(S) = {$}
Follow (A) = (b}
States ACTION GO TO
a b $ S A
Ii
2 A->αβ•
Ii r2

Ii

SLR ( 1 ) table for the Grammar

S aB
B bB | b

Follow (S) = {$}, Follow (B) = {$}

ACTION GOTO
States
A b $ S B
I0 S2 1
I1 ACCEPT
I2 S4 3
I3 R1
I4 S4 R3 5
I5 R2

Note: When Multiple Entries occurs in the SLR table. Then, the grammar is not accepted by
SLR(1) Parser.
Conflicts in the SLR (1) Parsing :
When multiple entries occur in the table. Then, the situation is said to be a Conflict.
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Shift-Reduce Conflict in SLR (1) Parsing : Shift Reduce Conflict in the LR (1) parsing occurs
when a state has
1. A Reduced item of the form A
‗a‘.
2. An incomplete item of the form A

1 A-> β•a α States Action GOTO

a
2 B->b• Ij a $ A B

Ii Sj/r2
Ii

α• and Follow(A) includes the terminal value

β•aα as shown below:

Reduce - Reduce Conflict in SLR (1) Parsing

Reduce- Reduce Conflict in the LR (1) parsing occurs when a state has two or more
reduced items of the form
1. A α•
2. B β• and Follow (A) ∩ Follow(B) ≠ null as shown below:
If The Grammar is
S-> αAaBa
A-> α
B-> β
Follow(S)= {$}
Follow(A)={a} and Follow(B)= {a}

1 A-> α• States Action GOTO

2 B->β• a $ A B
 Ii r1/r2

Ii
Canonical LR (1) Parsing: Various steps involved in the CLR (1) Parsing:
1. Write the Context free Grammar for the given input string

2. Check for the Ambiguity

3. Add Augment production

4. Create Canonical collection of LR ( 1 ) items

5. Draw DFA

6. Construct the CLR ( 1 ) Parsing table

7. Based on the information from the Table, with help of Stack and Parsing
algorithm generate the output.

LR (1) items :
The LR (1) item is defined by production, position of data and a terminal symbol. The
terminal is called as Look ahead symbol.
General form of LR (1) item is
S->α•Aβ , $ A-> •γ,
FIRST(β,$)

Rules to create canonical collection:

1. Every element of I is added to closure of I
2. If an LR (1) item [X-> A•BC, a] exists in I, and there exists a production B->b 1b2…..,
then add item [B->• b1b2, z] where z is a terminal in FIRST(Ca), if it is not already
in Closure(I).keep applying this rule until there are no more elements adde.
For example, if the grammar is
S->CC
C->cC
C->d
The Canonical collection of LR (1) items can be created as follows:

0. S′->•S (Augment Production)

1. S->•CC
2. C->•cC
3. C->•d

I0 State : Add Augment production and compute the Closure, the look ahead symbol for the Augment
Production is $.
 S′->•S, $= Closure(S′->•S, $)

The dot symbol is followed by a Non terminal S. So, add productions starting with S in I0
State.

S->•CC, FIRST ($), using 2nd rule

S->•CC, $
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The dot symbol is followed by a Non terminal C. So, add productions starting with C in I0
State.

C->•cC, FIRST(C, $)
C->•d, FIRST(C, $)

FIRST(C) = {c, d} so, the items are

C->•cC, c/d
C->•d, c/d

The dot symbol is followed by a terminal value. So, close the I0 State. So, the productions in the
I0 are

S′->•S , $
S->•CC , $
C->•cC, c/d
C->•d , c/d

I1 = Goto ( I0, S)= S′->S•,$

I2 = Go to (I0 , C)= Closure( S-> C•C, $)

S-> C->•cC , $
C->•d,$ So, the I2 State is

S->C•C,$
C->•cC , $ C->•d,
$

I3= Goto(I0,c)= Closure( C->c•C, c/d)

C->•cC, c/d
C->•d , c/d So, the I3 State is

C->c•C, c/d
 C->•cC, c/d C->•d
, c/d

I4= Goto( I0, d)= Colsure( C->d•, c/d) = C->d•, c/d

I5 = Goto ( I2, C)= closure(S->CC•,$)= S->CC•, $

I6= Goto ( I2, c)= closure(C->c•C , $)=

C->•cC, $
C->•d , $ S0, the I6 State is
 C->c•C , $
C->•cC , $
C->•d,$

I7 = Go to (I2 , d)= Closure(C->d•,$ ) = C->d•, $ Goto(I3,

c)= closure(C->•cC, c/d)= I3.

I8= Go to (I3 , C)= Closure(C->cC•, c/d) = C->cC•, c/d

Go to (I3 , c)= Closure(C->c•C, c/d) = I3

Go to (I3 , d)= Closure(C->d•, c/d) = I4

I9= Go to (I6 , C)= Closure(C->cC• , $) = C->cC• , $

Go to (I6 , c)= Closure(C->c•C , $) = I6

Go to (I6 , d)= Closure(C->d•,$ ) = I7

Drawing the Finite State Machine DFA for the above LR (1) items

S->CC•, $
S′->S•,$

S I1 C I5 C->cC• , $

0 S′->•S , $ I9
S->C•C,$ C->c•C , $
1 S->•CC , $ C C->•cC , $ c C->•cC , $ c
2C->•cC,c/d C->•d,$ C->•d,$
3 C->•d ,c/d d I6

I2 I6 I7

I0 c d

d
C->c•C, c/d C->d•, $
C->d•, c/d C->•cC, c/d C I7
I4 C->•d , c/d
d I3 c

I4 I3 I8
C->cC•, c/d
Construction of CLR (1) Table
Rule1: if there is an item [A->α•Xβ,b] in I i and goto(Ii,X) is in Ij then action [Ii][X]= Shift
j, Where X is Terminal.
Rule2: if there is an item [A->α•, b] in I i and (A≠S`) set action [I i][b]= reduce along with
the production number.
Rule3: if there is an item [S`->S•, $] in Ii then set action [Ii][$]= Accept.
Rule4: if there is an item [A->α•Xβ,b] in I i and go to(Ii,X) is in Ij then goto [Ii][X]= j,
Where X is Non Terminal.

ACTION GOTO
States
c d $ S C
I0 S3 S4 1 2
I1 ACCEPT
I2 S6 S7 5
I3 S3 S4 8
I4 R3 R3 5
I5 R1
I6 S6 S7 9
I7 R3
I8 R2 R2
I9 R2
Table : LR (1) Table

LALR (1) Parsing

The CLR Parser avoids the conflicts in the parse table. But it produces more number of
States when compared to SLR parser. Hence more space is occupied by the table in the memory.
So LALR parsing can be used. Here, the tables obtained are smaller than CLR parse table. But it
also as efficient as CLR parser. Here LR (1) items that have same productions but different look-
aheads are combined to form a single set of items.
For example, consider the grammar in the previous example. Consider the states I 4 and I7
as given below:
I4= Goto( I0, d)= Colsure( C->d•, c/d) = C->d•, c/d

I7 = Go to (I2 , d)= Closure(C->d•,$ ) = C->d•, $

These states are differing only in the look-aheads. They have the same productions. Hence these
states are combined to form a single state called as I47.
 Similarly the states I3 and I6 differing only in their look-aheads as given below: I3=
Goto(I0,c)=
Department of Computer Science

C->c•C, c/d
C->•cC, c/d C->•d
, c/d

I6= Goto ( I2, c)=

C->c•C , $
C->•cC , $
C->•d,$

These states are differing only in the look-aheads. They have the same productions. Hence these
states are combined to form a single state called as I36.

Similarly the States I8 and I9 differing only in look-aheads. Hence they combined to form
the state I89.

ACTION GOTO
States
c d $ S C
I0 S36 S47 1 2
I1 ACCEPT
I2 S36 S47 5
I36 S36 S47 89
I47 R3 R3 R3 5
I5 R1
I89 R2 R2 R2

Table: LALR Table

Conflicts in the CLR (1) Parsing : When multiple entries occur in the table. Then, the
situation is said to be a Conflict.

Shift-Reduce Conflict in CLR (1) Parsing

Shift Reduce Conflict in the CLR (1) parsing occurs when a state has
3. A Reduced item of the form A α•, a and
4. An incomplete item of the form A β•aα as shown below:
States Action GOTO

a $ A B
1 A-> β•a α , $
a Ii Sj/r2
2 B->b• ,a Ij
Reduce / Reduce Conflict in CLR (1) Parsing

Reduce- Reduce Conflict in the CLR (1) parsing occurs when a state has two
or more reduced items of the form
3. A α•
4. B β• If two productions in a state (I) reducing on same
look ahead symbol as shown below:

1 A-> α• ,a States Action GOTO

2 B->β•,a a $ A B
Ii
r1/r2

Ii
String Acceptance using LR Parsing:
Consider the above example, if the input String is cdd
ACTION GOTO
States
c D $ S C
I0 S3 S4 1 2
I1 ACCEPT
I2 S6 S7 5
I3 S3 S4 8
I4 R3 R3 5
I5 R1
I6 S6 S7 9
I7 R3
I8 R2 R2
I9 R2

0 S′->•S (Augment Production)

1 S->•CC
2 C->•cC
3 C->•d

STACK INPUT ACTION

$0 cdd$ Shift S3
$0c3 dd$ Shift S4
$0c3d4 d$ Reduce with R3,C->d, pop 2*β symbols from the stack
$0c3C d$ Goto ( I3, C)=8Shift S6

$0c3C8 d$ Reduce with R2 ,C->cC, pop 2*β symbols from the stack
$0C d$ Goto ( I0, C)=2
$0C2 d$ Shift S7
$0C2d7 $ Reduce with R3,C->d, pop 2*β symbols from the stack
$0C2C $ Goto ( I2, C)=5
$0C2C5 $ Reduce with R1,S->CC, pop 2*β symbols from the stack
$0S $ Goto ( I0, S)=1
$0S1 $ Accept

Handing Ambiguous grammar

Ambiguity: A Grammar can have more than one parse tree for a string . For example,
consider grammar.

string string + string

| string - string
|0|1|.|9

String 9-5+2 has two parse trees

A grammar is said to be an ambiguous grammar if there is some string that it can

generate in more than one way (i.e., the string has more than one parse tree or more
than one leftmost derivation). A language is inherently ambiguous if it can only be
generated by ambiguous grammars.

For example, consider the following grammar:

string string + string

| string - string
|0|1|.|9

In this grammar, the string 9-5+2 has two possible parse trees as shown in the next
slide.

Consider the parse trees for string 9-5+2, expression like this has more than one parse
tree. The two trees for 9-5+2 correspond to the two ways of parenthesizing the
expression: (9-5)+2 and 9- (5+2). The second parenthesization gives the expression
the value 2 instead of 6.

 Ambiguity is problematic because meaning of the programs can be incorrect

 Ambiguity can be handled in several ways

- Enforce associativity and precedence

- Rewrite the grammar (cleanest way)

There are no general techniques for handling ambiguity, but

. It is impossible to convert automatically an ambiguous grammar to an unambiguous

one

Ambiguity is harmful to the intent of the program. The input might be deciphered in a
way which was not really the intention of the programmer, as shown above in the 9-
5+2 example. Though there is no general technique to handle ambiguity i.e., it is not
possible to develop some feature which automatically identifies and removes
ambiguity from any grammar. However, it can be removed, broadly speaking, in the
following possible ways:- 1) Rewriting the whole grammar unambiguously.

2) Implementing precedence and associatively rules in the grammar. We shall discuss

this technique in the later slides.

If an operand has operator on both the sides, the side on which operator takes this
operand is the associativity of that operator

. In a+b+c b is taken by left +

. +, -, *, / are left associative
. ^, = are right associative

Grammar to generate strings with right associative operators right à letter = right |
letter letter a| b |.| z

A binary operation * on a set S that does not satisfy the associative law is
called non- associative. A left-associative operation is a non-associative operation that
is conventionally evaluated from left to right i.e., operand is taken by the operator on
the left side. For example,
6*5*4 = (6*5)*4 and not 6*(5*4)
6/5/4 = (6/5)/4 and not 6/(5/4)
A right-associative operation is a non-associative operation that is conventionally
evaluated from right to left i.e., operand is taken by the operator on the right side.

For example,
6^5^4 => 6^(5^4) and not
(6^5)^4) x=y=z=5 =>
x=(y=(z=5))

Following is the grammar to generate strings with left associative operators. (Note that
this is left recursive and may go into infinite loop. But we will handle this problem
later on by making it right recursive)

left left + letter |

letter letter a | b
| ..... | z