Theory of Computation &

Compiler Design

Top Down Parsing

Dr Prakash P
VIT Chennai
Roadmap

 Recap
 Left Recursion
 Left Factoring
 Top Down Parsing
 Recursive Descent Parsing

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Recap
 Grammar
 Context Free Grammar
 Derivation(s)
 Sentence
 Sentential Form
 Derivation Tree
 Ambiguous Grammar
 Role of Parser
 Types of Parsing

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Left Recursion
A grammar is left recursive if it has a nonterminal A such that
there is a derivation A + Aα for some string α.

Example EE+T|T
TT*F|F
F  ( E ) | id

the form 𝐴 → 𝐴𝛼
 Direct/Immediate left recursion: There is a production of

 Indirect left recursion: First symbol on the right-hand side

of a rule can derive the symbol on the left

Top-down parsing methods cannot handle left-recursive

grammars, so a transformation is needed to eliminate left
recursion.

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Remove Left Recursion
Rule:

** Without changing the strings derivable from A

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

 Remove Left Recursion – Example 1
EE+T|T
TT*F|F
F  ( E ) | id S(L)/a
L L , S / S

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Indirect Left Recursion
Left recursion hidden due to many productions.
 There is a left recursion
For example:
 S  Aa | b A Ac | Sd | Є because
S Aa Sda

In such cases, left recursion is removed systematically

 Starting from the first rule and replacing all the occurrences of the first
non terminal symbol
 Removing left recursion from the modified grammar

After the first step (substitute S by its rhs in the rules) the grammar
becomes
S Aa | b A  Ac | Aad | bd | Є
After the second step (removal of left recursion) the grammar
becomes S  Aa | b
A bdA' | A'
A'  cA' | adA' | Є
Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai
Indirect Left Recursion
 A → BaB  An equivalent
 B → Cb | ɛ immediately left-
 C → Ab | Ac recursive grammar,

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Algorithm to eliminate left recursion
 INPUT: Grammar G with no cycles or epsilon-
productions.
 OUTPUT: An equivalent grammar with no left recursion.

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

 Left Factoring
 Left factoring is a grammar transformation that is useful for
producing a grammar suitable for predictive, or top-down, parsing.
 When the choice between two alternative A-productions is not
clear,
 Rewrite the productions to defer the decision until enough of the input
has been seen that we can make the right choice.

Left factoring is the process of extracting and isolating common prefixes

in a set of productions

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Left Factoring – Example
 S  i E t S | i E tSeS | a  A → aAB / aBc / aAc
 Eb

• S  i E tSS’ | a • A → aA’
• S’  e S | ɛ • A’ → AB / Bc / Ac
• Eb

• A → aA’
• A’ → AD / Bc
• D→B/c

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Algorithm : Left factoring a
grammar
 INPUT: Grammar G.
 OUTPUT: An equivalent left-factored grammar.

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

 Recursive-descent parsing is a form of top-down parsing
Recursive-Descent
Parsing

that may require backtracking.

 Consists of a set of procedures, one for each nonterminal

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

 Grammar: E --> i E'
E' --> + i E' | Ɛ
E()
RDP Example
{
if (l == 'i') {
match('i');
int main() E'();
{ }
// E is a start symbol. }
E();

// if lookahead = $, it represents the end

of the string
// Here l is lookahead. E'()
if (l == '$') {
printf("Parsing Successful"); if (l == '+') {
} match('+'); match(char t)
match('i'); {
E'(); if (l == t) {
} l = getchar();
else }
return (); else
} printf("Error");
}
Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai
Recursive-Descent
Parsing
The start symbol is S;
The only terminal symbols are a and b.

 For example, consider the grammar S

 aAB|bB A aA|b B  b

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Recursive-Descent Parsing
Example

Scanner has function getToken() and global variable

token Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai
Review Question -1
Consider the following E -> E - T | T
T -> T + F | F
expression grammar G. F -> (E) | id

Which of the following grammars are not left recursive,

but equivalent to G?

A)
C)
E -> E - T | T
E -> TX
T -> T + F | F X -> -TX | ε
F -> (E) | id T -> FY
Y -> +FY | ε
B) F -> (E) | id
E -> TE'
D)
E' -> -TE' | ε
E -> TX | (TX)
T -> T + F | F X -> -TX | +TX | ε
F -> (E) | id T -> id

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Review Question -1
Consider the following E -> E - T | T
T -> T + F | F
expression grammar G. F -> (E) | id

Which of the following grammars are not left recursive,

but equivalent to G?

A)
C)
E -> E - T | T
E -> TX
T -> T + F | F X -> -TX | ε
F -> (E) | id T -> FY
Y -> +FY | ε
B) F -> (E) | id
E -> TE'
D)
E' -> -TE' | ε
E -> TX | (TX)
T -> T + F | F X -> -TX | +TX | ε
F -> (E) | id T -> id

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Review Question -2
 Which of the following derivations does a
top-down parser use while parsing an input
string?
a) Leftmost derivation
b) Leftmost derivation in reverse
c) Rightmost derivation
d) Rightmost derivation in reverse

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

 Review Question -2
 Which of the following derivations does a
top-down parser use while parsing an input
string?
a) Leftmost derivation
b) Leftmost derivation in reverse
c) Rightmost derivation
d) Rightmost derivation in reverse

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

References

 Principles of Compiler Design, Alferd V. Aho

and Jeffery D. Ullman, Addison Wesley,2006.

 Modern Compiler Implementation in Java, 2nd

ed., Andrew W. Appel Cambrdige University
Press, 2012.

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

Next…

 Limitations with Recursive-Descent

Parsing
 FIRST and FOLLOW
 LL(1) Parser

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai

 Thanks

Dr Prakash P VIT Chennai