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Your First Grammar
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GOLD Meta-Language

The format used to describe a grammar also requires a grammar. Yes, its true. Since the format you use to describe a grammar has a specific syntax, the grammar description is a language.

To keep things from getting too confusing, GOLD uses the term "meta-language" to describe the format used to define grammars. So,  you will write the grammar for your language using the "GOLD Meta-Language".

GOLD Meta-Language Documentation

Some Important Tips

  • It is often much easier to modify an existing grammar than starting from scratch. Look on the site and find the grammar that is closest to the grammar of the language you plan to parse.
  • Write your grammar in parts. If you write the entire grammar at once, it might be quite difficult to fix ambigities and conflicts.
  • In the Builder Application, you can automatically create a simple grammar by selecting "New" from the File Menu.
  • If you are creating a new programming language, remember that it can look like anything you want. It doesn't have to resemble C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, etc....
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