Thank you for the reactions on this! I really appreciate it. Given the responses, migrating to ANTLR will allow us to tap more knowledge, and target multiple languages. ANTLR supports, among others, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python 2 and Python 3.
Going forward, I'll be taking a few steps: 1. Upgrade the JavaCC plugin as per Martins suggestion, and JavaCC to the most recent version of the plugin dependency, 7.0.10 2. Upgrade the comment handling by the IDL to warn if documentation comments are out of place (this is useful to prepare for less hacky documentation comment handling, but will force compilation errors if documentation comments are used as regular multiline comments) 3. Suggest an ANTLR grammar to replace the IDL grammar Kind regards, Oscar On Thu, 6 Jan 2022 at 18:24, Ryan Skraba <r...@skraba.com> wrote: > Hey, this is an excellent analysis for the future of the IDL > implementation, thanks! > > I am really not any expert around parser generators, but I've learned > quite a bit from reading through your PRs. Switching to ANTLR might > bring in some more active developers in this area, so I'm all for it! > Thanks again for the work you've been doing and if you choose to take > on this task. > > Would using ANTLR help some of the other SDKs implement the IDL > specification? That would be a huge advantage. > > All my best, Ryan > > > > On Thu, Jan 6, 2022 at 4:30 AM Raymie Stata <rst...@yahoo.com.invalid> > wrote: > > > > I support your recommendation. I've recently used ANTLR on a use-case > > similar to this one and had a great experience. > > > > Raymie > > > > On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 5:13 PM Oscar Westra van Holthe - Kind < > > os...@westravanholthe.nl> wrote: > > > > > Hi everyone, > > > > > > One of the avro components in Java is the IDL parser. It is generated > from > > > a grammar using JavaCC. This is an old library, that enforces Java 1.5 > > > syntax for the IDL class. What's worse, it is not really upgraded > anymore. > > > > > > For now it works, but it's not suitable for maintaining a high quality > > > component. As a result, I've been looking for a replacement. > > > > > > Some alternatives to JavaCC are: > > > * JavaCC 21; written by a brilliant mind, but who has been out of > > > programming for a decade and returned a few years ago. JavaCC 21 lacks > > > maven support, and I cannot find it in Maven Central. > > > * CookCC; has a YACC-like syntax (quite archaic), and is at version > > > 0.something > > > * CUP (a Java based “Constructor of Useful Parsers”) generates more > > > powerful LALR parsers, which allows for grammars that are easier to > read. > > > However, it was last released in Oktober 2015. > > > * ANTLR is actively developed (9 releases since 2017, last one November > > > 2021) and thus the most obvious choice, but requires ANTLR artifacts at > > > runtime (i.e. a 328kB extra runtime dependency for the IDL parser) > > > > > > Going forward, I suggest switching to ANTLR. > > > My reasons: > > > 1. It's actively maintained > > > 2. There is a Maven plugin, to generate the parser during the build > > > 3. I know where to find working examples > > > > > > Does anyone have a better/easier suggestion? > > > > > > Or should I continue with ANTLR? > > > > > > > > > Kind regards, > > > Oscar > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Oscar Westra van Holthe - Kind <os...@westravanholthe.nl> > > > > -- ✉️ Oscar Westra van Holthe - Kind <os...@westravanholthe.nl>
