1

Lexical Analysis and

Lexical Analyzer
Generators
Chapter 3

Compiler Constructio
 The Reason Why Lexical
2

Analysis is a Separate
Phase
• Simplifies the design of the compiler
– LL(1) or LR(1) parsing with 1 token lookahead
would not be possible (multiple
characters/tokens to match)
• Provides efficient implementation
– Systematic techniques to implement lexical
analyzers by hand or automatically from
specifications
– Stream buffering methods to scan input
• Improves portability
– Non-standard symbols and alternate character
encodings can be normalized (e.g. UTF8,
trigraphs)
 Interaction of the
3

Lexical Analyzer with

the Parser
Token,
Source Lexical tokenval
Program Parser
Analyzer
Get next
token
error error

Symbol Table
 4

Attributes of Tokens

y := 31 + 28*x Lexical analyzer

” > <assign, > <num, 31> <‘+’, > <num, 28> <‘*’, > <

token
(lookahead)
tokenval Parser
(token attribute)
 5

Tokens, Patterns, and

Lexemes
• A token is a classification of lexical
units
– For example: id and num
• Lexemes are the specific character
strings that make up a token
– For example: abc and 123
• Patterns are rules describing the set of
lexemes belonging to a token
– For example: “ letter followed by letters and
digits” and “ non-empty sequence of digits”
 Specification of
6

Patterns for Tokens:

Definitions
• An alphabet  is a finite set of
symbols (characters)
• A string s is a finite sequence of
symbols from 
 s denotes the length of string s
  denotes the empty string, thus  =
0
• A language is a specific set of
strings over some fixed alphabet 
 Specification of
7

Patterns for Tokens:

String Operations
• The concatenation of two strings
x and y is denoted by xy
• The exponentation of a string s
is defined by

s0 = 
si = si-1s for i > 0

note that s = s = s
 Specification of
8

Patterns for Tokens:

Language
• Union
Operations
L  M = {s  s  L or s  M}
• Concatenation
LM = {xy  x  L and y  M}
• Exponentiation
L0 = {}; Li = Li-1L
• Kleene closure
L* = i=0,…, Li
• Positive closure
L+ = i=1,…, Li
 Specification of
9

Patterns for Tokens:

Regular
• Basis symbols:
Expressions
  is a regular expression denoting language {}
– a   is a regular expression denoting {a}
• If r and s are regular expressions denoting
languages L(r) and M(s) respectively, then
– rs is a regular expression denoting L(r)  M(s)
– rs is a regular expression denoting L(r)M(s)
– r* is a regular expression denoting L(r)*
– (r) is a regular expression denoting L(r)
• A language defined by a regular expression
is called a regular set
 Specification of
10

Patterns for Tokens:

Regular Definitions
• Regular definitions introduce a naming
convention with name-to-regular-expression
bindings:
d1  r 1
d2  r 2
…
dn  r n
where each ri is a regular expression over
  {d1, d2, …, di-1 }
• Any dj in ri can be textually substituted in
ri to obtain an equivalent set of definitions
 Specification of
11

Patterns for Tokens:

Regular
• Example:
Definitions
letter  AB…Zab…z
digit  01…9
id  letter ( letterdigit )*

• Regular definitions cannot be

recursive:

digits  digit digitsdigit wrong!

 Specification of
12

Patterns for Tokens:

Notational Shorthand
• The following shorthands are often used:

r+ = rr*
r? = r
[a-z] = abc…z

• Examples:
digit  [0-9]
num  digit+ (. digit+)? ( E (+-)?
digit+ )?
 13

Regular Definitions
and Grammars
Grammar
 if expr then stmt
 if expr then stmt else stmt
 
 term relop term
 term Regular definitions
 id if  if
 num then  then
else  else
relop  <  <=  <>  >  >=  =
id  letter ( letter | digit )*
num  digit+ (. digit+)? ( E (+-)? dig
 Coding Regular
14

Definitions in
Transition Diagrams
relop  <<=<>>>==
start < =
0 1 2return(relop, LE)
>
3return(relop, NE)
other *
4return(relop, LT)
=
5return(relop, EQ)
> =
6 7return(relop, GE)
other *
8return(relop, GT)

 letter ( letterdigitletter
)* or digit

start letter other

9 10 11*
return(gettoken(),
install_id(
 Definitions in 15

Transition Diagrams:
Code
token nexttoken()
{ while (1) {
switch (state) {
case 0: c = nextchar();
if (c==blank || c==tab || c==newline) { Decides the
state = 0;
lexeme_beginning++; next start state
}
else if (c==‘<’) state = 1; to check
else if (c==‘=’) state = 5;
else if (c==‘>’) state = 6;
else state = fail();
break; int fail()
case 1: { forward = token_beginning;
… swith (start) {
case 9: c = nextchar(); case 0: start = 9; break;
if (isletter(c)) state = 10; case 9: start = 12; break;
else state = fail(); case 12: start = 20; break;
break; case 20: start = 25; break;
case 10: c = nextchar(); case 25: recover(); break;
if (isletter(c)) state = 10; default: /* error */
else if (isdigit(c)) state = 10; }
else state = 11; return start;
break; }
…
 16

The Lex and Flex

Scanner Generators
• Lex and its newer cousin flex
are scanner generators
• Scanner generators
systematically translate regular
definitions into C source code
for efficient scanning
• Generated code is easy to
integrate in C applications
 Creating a Lexical
17

Analyzer with Lex and

Flex
lex
source lex (or flex) lex.yy.c
program
lex.l

lex.yy.c
C a.out
compiler

input sequence
stream a.out of tokens
 18

Lex Specification
• A lex specification consists of three parts:
regular definitions, C declarations in
%{ %}
%%
translation rules
%%
user-defined auxiliary procedures
• The translation rules are of the form:
p1 { action1 }
p2 { action2 }
…
pn { actionn }
 19

Regular Expressions in
x Lex
match the character x
\. match the character .
“string” match contents of string of characters
. match any character except newline
^ match beginning of a line
$ match the end of a line
[xyz] match one character x, y, or z (use \ to escape -)
[^xyz]match any character except x, y, and z
[a-z] match one of a to z
r* closure (match zero or more occurrences)
r+ positive closure (match one or more occurrences)
r? optional (match zero or one occurrence)
r1r2 match r1 then r2 (concatenation)
r1|r2 match r1 or r2 (union)
( r ) grouping
r1/r2 match r1 when followed by r2
{d} match the regular expression defined by d
 20

Example Lex
Specification 1
Contains
%{ the matching
ranslation #include <stdio.h> lexeme
%}
rules %%
[0-9]+ { printf(“%s\n”, yytext); }
.|\n { }
%% Invokes
main() the lexical
{ yylex(); analyzer
}

lex spec.l
gcc lex.yy.c -ll
./a.out < spec.l
 21

Example Lex
Specification 2
%{
#include <stdio.h> Regular
int ch = 0, wd = 0, nl = 0;
definition
ranslation %}
rules delim [ \t]+
%%
\n { ch++; wd++; nl++; }
^{delim} { ch+=yyleng; }
{delim} { ch+=yyleng; wd++; }
. { ch++; }
%%
main()
{ yylex();
printf("%8d%8d%8d\n", nl, wd, ch);
}
 22

Example Lex
Specification 3
%{
#include <stdio.h> Regular
%}
definitions
ranslation digit [0-9]
rules letter [A-Za-z]
id {letter}({letter}|{digit})*
%%
{digit}+ { printf(“number: %s\n”, yytext); }
{id} { printf(“ident: %s\n”, yytext); }
. { printf(“other: %s\n”, yytext); }
%%
main()
{ yylex();
}
 Example Lex 23

Specification 4
%{ /* definitions of manifest constants */
#define LT (256)
…
%}
delim [ \t\n]
ws {delim}+
letter [A-Za-z] Return
digit [0-9]
id {letter}({letter}|{digit})* token to
number
%%
{digit}+(\.{digit}+)?(E[+\-]?{digit}+)? parser
{ws} { }
if {return IF;} Token
then
else
{return THEN;}
{return ELSE;}
attribute
{id} {yylval = install_id(); return ID;}
{number} {yylval = install_num(); return NUMBER;}
“<“ {yylval = LT; return RELOP;}
“<=“ {yylval = LE; return RELOP;}
“=“ {yylval = EQ; return RELOP;}
“<>“ {yylval = NE; return RELOP;}
“>“ {yylval = GT; return RELOP;}
“>=“
%%
Install yytext as
{yylval = GE; return RELOP;}

int install_id() identifier in symbol ta

…
 24

Design of a Lexical
Analyzer Generator
• Translate regular expressions
to NFA
• Translate NFA to an efficient
DFA Optional

regular
NFA DFA
expressions

Simulate NFA Simulate DFA

to recognize to recognize
tokens tokens
 25

Nondeterministic
Finite Automata
• An NFA is a 5-tuple (S, , , s0, F)
where

S is a finite set of states

 is a finite set of symbols, the
alphabet
 is a mapping from S   to a set of
states
s0  S is the start state
F  S is the set of accepting (or final)
states
 26

Transition Graph
• An NFA can be
diagrammatically represented
by a labeled directed graph
called a transition graph
a
S = {0,1,2,3}
start
0
a
1
b
2
b
3
 = {a,b}
s0 = 0
b F = {3}
 27

Transition Table
• The mapping  of an NFA can
be represented in a
transition table
Input Input
State
(0,a) = {0,1} a b
(0,b) = {0} 0 {0, {0}
(1,b) = {2} 1}
(2,b) = {3} 1 {2}
2 {3}
 28

The Language Defined

by an NFA
• An NFA accepts an input string x if and
only if there is some path with edges
labeled with symbols from x in sequence
from the start state to some accepting
state in the transition graph
• A state transition from one state to
another on the path is called a move
• The language defined by an NFA is the
set of input strings it accepts, such
as (ab)*abb for the example NFA
 Design of a Lexical
29

Analyzer Generator: RE
to NFA to DFA
Lex specification with NFA
regular expressions
p1 { action1 } N(p1) action1

p2 { action2 } start
s0
 N(p2) action2
… …
pn { actionn } 
N(pn) actionn

Subset constructi

DFA
 From Regular 30

Expression to NFA
(Thompson’ s
Construction)  f
start
 i

a start a
i f

start  N(r1) 
r1r2 i f
 N(r2) 
start
r1r2 i N(r1) N(r2) f


r* start
i  N(r)  f


 Combining the NFAs of
31

a Set of Regular
Expressions
start
1
a
2

a { action1 }
start a b b
abb { action2 } 3 4 5 6
a b
a*b+ { action3 }
start
7 b 8
a
1 2

start
0  3
a
4
b
5
b
6
a b

7 b 8
 32

Simulating the
Combined NFA Example 1
a
1 2 action1

start
0  3
a
4
b
5
b
6 action2
a b

7 b 8 action3

a a b a
none
0 2 7 8
action3
1 4
3 7 Must find the longest match:
7 Continue until no further moves are pos
When last state is accepting: execute a
 33

Simulating the
Combined NFA Example 2
a
1 2 action1

start
0  3
a
4
b
5
b
6 action2
a b

7 b 8 action3

a b b a
none
0 2 5 6
action2
1 4 8 8
action3
3 7
When
7 two or more accepting states are reached,
first action given in the Lex specification is
 34

Deterministic Finite
Automata
• A deterministic finite automaton is a
special case of an NFA
– No state has an -transition
– For each state s and input symbol a there
is at most one edge labeled a leaving s
• Each entry in the transition table is
a single state
– At most one path exists to accept a
string
– Simulation algorithm is simple
 35

Example DFA

A DFA that accepts (ab)*abb

b
b
a
start a b b
0 1 2 3

a a
 36

Conversion of an NFA
into a DFA
• The subset construction algorithm converts
an NFA into a DFA using:
-closure(s) = {s}  {t  s  …  t}
-closure(T) = sT -closure(s)
move(T,a) = {t  s a t and s  T}
• The algorithm produces:
Dstates is the set of states of the new
DFA consisting of sets of states of the
NFA
Dtran is the transition table of the new
DFA
 37

-closure and move

Examples
-closure({0}) = {0,1,3,7
a
1 2 move({0,1,3,7},a) = {2,4,
 -closure({2,4,7}) = {2,4
start
 a b b move({2,4,7},a) = {7}
0 3 4 5 6
a b -closure({7}) = {7}
 move({7},b) = {8}
7 b 8 -closure({8}) = {8}
move({8},a) = 
a a b a
none
0 2 7 8
1 4
3 7
7 Also used to simulate
 Simulating an NFA
38

using
-closure and move
S := -closure({s0})
Sprev := 
a := nextchar()
while S   do
Sprev := S
S := -closure(move(S,a))
a := nextchar()
end do
if Sprev  F   then
execute action in Sprev
return “ yes”
else return “ no”
 39

The Subset
Construction Algorithm
-closure(s0) is the only state in Dstates and it i
e is an unmarked state T in Dstates do
T
ach input symbol a   do
U := -closure(move(T,a))
if U is not in Dstates then
add U as an unmarked state to Dstates
end if
Dtran[T,a] := U
o
 Subset Construction 40

Example

1
a
2 3

start    a b b
0 1 6 7 8 9 10

4
b
5


b
Dstates
C A = {0,1,2,4,7}
b a b B = {1,2,3,4,6,7,8}
start
E C = {1,2,4,5,6,7}
a b b
A B D
a D = {1,2,4,5,6,7,9}
a
a E = {1,2,4,5,6,7,10}
 Subset Construction 41

Example 2
a
1 2 a1

start
0  3
a
4
b
5
b
6 a2
a b

7 b 8 a3
b

a3 Dstates
C A = {0,1,3,7}
b a
b b B = {2,4,7}
start C = {8}
A D
D = {7}
a a
b b E = {5,8}
B E F
F = {6,8}
a1 a3 a2 a3
 42

Minimizing the Number

of States of a DFA

C
b
b a b
start a b b start a b b
A B D E AC B D E
a a
a
a b a a
 From Regular
43

Expression to DFA
Directly
• The “ important states” of an NFA
are those without an -
transition, that is if
move({s},a)   for some a then s
is an important state
• The subset construction algorithm
uses only the important states
when it determines
-closure(move(T,a))
 From Regular
44

Expression to DFA
Directly (Algorithm)
• Augment the regular expression r
with a special end symbol # to
make accepting states important:
the new expression is r#
• Construct a syntax tree for r#
• Traverse the tree to construct
functions nullable, firstpos,
lastpos, and followpos
 From Regular 45

Expression to DFA
Directly: Syntax Tree
of (a|b)*abb#
concatenation
#
6
b
closure 5
b
4

* a
3
alternation
| position
number
a b (for leafs 
1 2
 From Regular 46

Expression to DFA
Directly: Annotating
• nullable(n):the Tree
the subtree at node n
generates languages including the
empty string
• firstpos(n): set of positions that can
match the first symbol of a string
generated by the subtree at node n
• lastpos(n): the set of positions that
can match the last symbol of a string
generated be the subtree at node n
• followpos(i): the set of positions
that can follow position i in the tree
 From Regular
47

Expression to DFA
Directly: Annotating
Node n the Tree
nullable(n) firstpos(n) lastpos(n)

Leaf  true  

Leaf i false {i} {i}

| nullable(c1) firstpos(c1) lastpos(c1)

/ \ or  
c1 c2 nullable(c2) firstpos(c2) lastpos(c2)
if
if
nullable(c1)
nullable(c2)
then
• nullable(c1) then
firstpos(c1)
/ \ and lastpos(c1) 

c1 c2 nullable(c2) lastpos(c2)
firstpos(c2)
else
else
lastpos(c )
 From Regular 48

Expression to DFA
Directly: Syntax Tree
of (a|b)*abb#
{1, 2, 3} {6}

{1, 2, 3} {5} {6} # {6}

6
{1, 2, 3} {4} {5} b {5}
nullable 5
{1, 2, 3} {3} {4} b {4}
4

{3} a {3}
firstposlastpos
{1, 2} {1, 2}
* 3

{1, 2}|{1, 2}

{1} a {1} {2} b {2}

1 2
 From Regular
49

Expression to DFA
Directly: followpos
h node n in the tree do
n is a cat-node with left child c1 and right child
for each i in lastpos(c1) do
followpos(i) := followpos(i)  firstpos(c2)
end do
se if n is a star-node
for each i in lastpos(n) do
followpos(i) := followpos(i)  firstpos(n)
end do
d if
 From Regular 50

Expression to DFA
Directly: Algorithm
firstpos(root) where root is the root of the syntax
s := {s0} and is unmarked
there is an unmarked state T in Dstates do
ark T
or each input symbol a   do
let U be the set of positions that are in follo
for some position p in T,
such that the symbol at position p is a
if U is not empty and not in Dstates then
add U as an unmarked state to Dstates
end if
Dtran[T,a] := U
nd do
 From Regular
51

Expression to DFA
Directly:
followp
Example
Node
os 1
{1, 2,
1 3 4 5 6
3}
{1, 2, 2
2
3}
3 {4}
4 {5}
5 {6}b b
6 - a
start a 1,2, b 1,2, b 1,2,
1,2,3
3,4 3,5 3,6
a
a
 52

Time-Space Tradeoffs

Space Time
Automaton (worst (worst
case) case)
O(rx
NFA O(r)
)
DFA O(2|r|) O(x)