(ftp:/cpsc.ucalgary.ca/pub/prolog1.1)

Comparison of parser generators

This is a list of notable parsing systems.

Chart Key

The following key describes the columns used in the comparison chart below.

Table Column	Description
Parser Algorithm	Each parsing system implements a special algorithm for analyzing a token stream and building a tree structure which corresponds to the syntax of the language as defined by a grammar. The different parsing algorithms are: LALR, LR(1), GLR, and LL.
Output Languages	Most parser generators output source code in one or more specific programming languages. This source code is used in the construction of the compiler, interpreter or translator.
Grammar/Code	If the grammar and source code are "mixed", the developer's source code is directly embedded into the grammar. This is the approach typically used by compiler-compilers. If "separated", the grammar and source-code are developed separately.
Lexer	The lexer is used to read characters and identify tokens and pass them to the parser. Lexers can be generated by the parser development software, a separate lexer generator or hand coded.
Development Platform	This is the required platform and/or operating system required to use the parser development software.
IDE	Some products feature an integrated development environment.
License	This column indicates the type end-user license offered by the author of the product.
Latest Release	This column indicates the year of the latest (in some cases last) release. This column was introduced in 2008 so whereever it reads "2008" when youn com here in say 2010 has to be re-checked.

Comparison Charts

Product	Website	Parsing Algorithm	Output Languages	Grammar / Code	Lexer	Development Platform	IDE	License	Latest release
ACCENT		Earley	C	Mixed	External	All	no	GNU GPL	?
ANTLR		LL(*)	C#, Java, Python	Mixed	Generated	JVM	yes	BSD	?
AnaGram		LALR(1)	C, C++	?	?	Win32	?	Proprietary	?
APaGeD		GLR, LALR(1), LL(k)	D	Mixed	Generated	All	no	Artistic	?
APG		Recursive Descent	C, C++	Separate	None	All	no	GNU GPL	2007
Aurochs		Packrat	C, Ocaml, Java	Mixed	Generated	All	no	GNU GPL	?
Beaver		LALR	Java	Mixed	External	JVM	no	BSD	?
Bison		LALR, GLR	C, C++	Mixed	External	All	no	GNU GPL	2008
Bison++		LALR(1)	C++	?	?	?	?	GPL	1993
Bisonc++		LALR(1)	C++	?	?	?	?	GPL	2008
BtYacc		LALR	C++	Mixed	External	All	no	Public domain	1999
BYACC		LALR	C	Mixed	External	All	no	Public domain	?
BYACC/J		LALR	C, Java	Mixed	External (JFlex)	All	no	Public domain	?
CL-peg		Packrat	Common Lisp	Mixed	Generated	All	no	MIT	?
CL-Yacc		LALR(1)	Common Lisp	Mixed	External	All	no	MIT	?
Coco/R		LL(k)	C, C++, C#, F#, Java, Ada, Pascal, Modula-2, Oberon, Ruby, Unicon, Visual Basic .NET	Mixed	Generated	JVM, .NET	no	GNU GPL	2008
CppCC		LL(k)	C++	Mixed	Generated	POSIX	no	GNU GPL	2004
CSP		LR(1)	C++	?	?	?	?	Apache License V2.0	2007
CSTools		LALR	C#	Mixed	Generated	.NET	no	?	?
CUP		LALR	Java	Mixed	External (JLex)	JVM	no	GNU GPL	?
DMS Software Reengineering Toolkit		GLR	Parlanse	Mixed	Generated	Win32	no	Proprietary	?
DParser		Scannerless GLR	C	Mixed	Generated	POSIX	no	BSD	?
Dragon		LR(1), LALR	C++, Java	?	?	?	?	GPL	2007
Drat!		Packrat	D	Mixed	Generated	All	no	GNU GPL	?
Elkhound		GLR	C++, OCaml	Mixed	External	All	no	BSD	2005
eli		LALR	C, others	Mixed	Generated	POSIX	no	GNU GPL, GNU LGPL	?
Essence		LR	Scheme (Scheme 48)	Mixed	External	All	no	BSD	?
eyapp		LALR(1)	Perl	Mixed	External	All	no	Perl	?
F# PegParser		Packrat	F#	Mixed	Generated	.NET	no	?	?
Frisby		Packrat	Haskell	Mixed	Generated	All	no	BSD	?
Frown		LALR(k)	Haskell 98	?	?	?	?	GPL	?
GDK		?	?	?	?	?	?	MIT	?
GOLD		LALR	x86 assembly language, ANSI C, C#, D, Delphi, Java, Pascal, Python, Visual Basic 6, Visual Basic .NET, Visual C++	Separate	Generated	Win32	yes	Freeware	?
grammar::peg		Packrat	TCL	Mixed	Generated	All	no	BSD	?
Grammatica		LL(k)	C#, Java	Separate	Generated	JVM	no	GNU LGPL	?
Happy		LALR, GLR	Haskell	Mixed	External	All	no	BSD	?
HiLexed		LL(k)	Java	Separate	Internal	JVM	no	GNU LGPL	?
Hyacc		LR(1)	C	Mixed	External	All	no	GNU GPL	?
jacc		LALR	Java	Mixed	External	JVM	no	BSD	?
JavaCC		LL(k)	Java	Mixed	Generated	JVM	yes	BSD	?
jay		LALR	C#, Java	Mixed	None	All	no	BSD	?
JetPAG		LL(k)	C++	Mixed	Generated	All	no	GNU GPL	2007
JS/CC		LALR(1)	JavaScript, JScript, ECMAScript	Mixed	Internal	All	yes	Artistic	?
Kelbt		Backtracking LALR(1)	?	?	?	?	?	GPL	2007
kmyacc		LALR(1)	C, Java, Perl, JavaScript	Mixed	External	All	no	GNU GPL	?
Lapg		LALR	Java, Javascript, C, C++, C#	Mixed	Generated	JVM	no	GNU GPL	2007
LEMON		LALR	C	Mixed	External	All	no	Public domain	2008
Lime		LALR(1)	PHP	?	?	?	?	GPL	?
LISA		LR, LL, LALR, SLR	Java	Mixed	Generated	JVM	yes	Public Domain	?
LPeg		Parsing Machine	Lua	Mixed	Generated	All	no	MIT	?
LPG		LALR	Java	Mixed	Generated	JVM	no	EPL	?
LLgen		LL(1)	C	?	?	?	?	BSD	?
LLnextgen		LL(1)	C	?	?	?	?	GPL	?
LRGen		LR(1)	C++	Separate	Generated	Win32	no	Proprietary	?
Menhir		LR(1)	OCaml	Mixed	Generated	All	no	QPL	?
Mini Parser Generator		?	Python	?	?	?	?	LGPL	?
ML-Yacc		LALR(1)	ML	Mixed	External	All	no	?	?
Monkey		LR(1)	Java	?	?	?	?	GPL	?
More Than Parsing		LL(1)	Java	Separate	Generated	JVM	no	GNU GPL	?
MyL Programming Language		Mylc	Delphi, Java, C#, JScript, SQL	Mixed	Generated	Win32	no	Public domain	?
Narwhal		Packrat	C	Mixed	Generated	POSIX, Win32	no	BSD	?
ocamlyacc		LALR(1)	OCaml	Mixed	External (Ocamllex)	All	no	QPL	?
olex		LL(1)	C++					GPL	2002
Packrat		Packrat	Scheme	Mixed	Generated	All	no	MIT	?
Pappy		Packrat	Haskell	Mixed	Generated	All	no	?	?
Parsec (parser)		GLR	Haskell	Mixed	None	All	no	BSD	?
		LALR(1)	Perl					GPL	?
Parser Objects	?	LL(k)	Java	Mixed	?	JVM	no	zlib	?
Parsnip		Packrat	C++	Mixed	Generated	Win32	no	GNU GPL	2007
peg		Recursive Descent (PEG)	C, C++	Mixed	Generated	All	no	MIT	2007
PEGTL		Recursive Descent (PEG)	C++0x	Mixed	Internal	POSIX	no	MIT	?
PGE	?	Recursive Descent (PEG)	Parrot bytecode	Mixed	Generated	All	no	?	?
PyPy rlib		Packrat	Python	Mixed	Generated	All	no	MIT	?
PLY		LALR(1)	Python	Mixed	Generated	All	no	GNU GPL	?
PRECC		LL(k)	C	Separate	Generated	MS-DOS, POSIX	no	GNU GPL	?
Rats!		PEG	Java	Mixed	Generated	JVM	no	GNU LGPL	?
QLALR		LALR(1)	C++	Mixed	External	All	no	GNU GPL	?
SableCC		LALR	Java, C, C++, C#, OCaml, Python	Separate	Generated	All	no	GNU LGPL	2008
Scannerless Boolean Parser		Scannerless GLR (Boolean Grammars)	Java, Haskell	Separate	Generated	All	no	BSD	?
SmaCC		LALR(1)/LR(1)	Smalltalk	Mixed	Internal	All	yes	MIT	?
SLK		LL(k)	C, C++, C#, Java	Separate	External	All	no	Proprietary	?
SPARK		Earley	Python	Mixed	External	All	no	MIT	?
Spirit		LL(k)	C++	Mixed	Internal	All	no	Boost	2008
Styx		?	C	?	?	?	?	LGPL	?
Tap		LL(1)	C++	?	?	?	?	GPL	2002
TextTransformer		LL(k)	C++	Mixed	Generated	Win32	yes	Proprietary	?
Tom		LR(k)/Tomita	C	?	?	?	?	?	?
Toy Parser Generator (TPG)		Backtracking	Python	?	?	?	?	LGPL	?
TP Yacc		LALR(1)	Turbo Pascal	Mixed	External	All	yes	GNU GPL	?
Treetop		Recusive Descent (PEG)	Ruby	Mixed	Generated	All	no	?	?
Yacc (AT&T)	?	LALR	C, others	Mixed	External	POSIX	no	?	?
Yacc++		LR(k)/LALR(k)	C++, C#	Mixed	Generated or External	All	no	Proprietary	?
Yapps		LL(1)	Python	Mixed	Generated	All	no	MIT	?
Yard		Recursive Descent (PEG)	C++	Mixed	Generated	All	no	MIT or Public Domain	2008
yecc		LALR(1)	Erlang	Separate	Generated	All	no	Erlang	?
Visual BNF		LR(1)/LALR(1)	C#	Separate	Generated	.NET	yes	Proprietary	?
Visual Parse++		LALR	C, C++, C#, Java	Separate	Generated	Win32	yes	Proprietary	?
YooParse		LR	C++	Mixed	External (YooLex)	All	no	MIT	2002
Wisent		LALR(1)	C++, Java	?	?	?	?	GPL	2006
Product	Website	Parsing Algorithm	Output Languages	Grammar / Code	Lexer	Development Platform	IDE	License	Latest release