Erik has posted about a new parser he's created, one based on the LALR parser method, that can be downloaded here [zip].

Parser tables, along with a lexer table, are the core constituents of any compiler's front end. This LALR parser generator is heavily based on my custom Php version of the map/reduce programming technique (functional programming). I will elaborate in future posts, on why I used a map/reduce basis to implement the parser generator.

Parsers organize a set of tokens based on the rules of a formal language the parser is given. Several of the grammar text files are included in the download so you can test it out for yourself. For more on the topic check out these two posts.

With his own response to this post, Ben Ramsey sheds some more light on the misspoken technology terms/conventions that pop up over and over.

This is in response to Chris Shiflett's "Technical Vocabulary and Grammar" post. My comment became so long that I decided to blog it instead.

Being someone with a degree in English...

He talks about collective nouns being plural (making it okay to use something like "PHPDeveloper.org are..."), periods inside quotation marks, a suggestion for aiding understanding of actual commands typed for programming books (loose the quotes and go bold), and his own view on what "PC" really means...

With his own response to this post, Ben Ramsey sheds some more light on the misspoken technology terms/conventions that pop up over and over.

This is in response to Chris Shiflett's "Technical Vocabulary and Grammar" post. My comment became so long that I decided to blog it instead.

Being someone with a degree in English...

He talks about collective nouns being plural (making it okay to use something like "PHPDeveloper.org are..."), periods inside quotation marks, a suggestion for aiding understanding of actual commands typed for programming books (loose the quotes and go bold), and his own view on what "PC" really means...

It's not strictly PHP related, but Chris Shiflett has posted this new item on his blog today with a look at some technical vocabulary and grammar.

I sometimes wonder why people feel so compelled to use technical terms when talking about computers, even when they don't know what the terms mean. In my experience, those who know the least about a particular topic use the most complicated vocabulary when discussing it. I considered compiling a list of the popular ones, but since I'm lazy and have a blog, I decided to blog about it instead. Feel free to add to the list.

He mentions the incorrect use of the term "computer" when referring to hardware (overgeneralization), the confusion over very similar technical words (i.e. Orientated and Oriented, Depreciated and Deprecated), the pluralization of company names, and various other issues. Be sure to check out the comments for even more...

It's not strictly PHP related, but Chris Shiflett has posted this new item on his blog today with a look at some technical vocabulary and grammar.

I sometimes wonder why people feel so compelled to use technical terms when talking about computers, even when they don't know what the terms mean. In my experience, those who know the least about a particular topic use the most complicated vocabulary when discussing it. I considered compiling a list of the popular ones, but since I'm lazy and have a blog, I decided to blog about it instead. Feel free to add to the list.

He mentions the incorrect use of the term "computer" when referring to hardware (overgeneralization), the confusion over very similar technical words (i.e. Orientated and Oriented, Depreciated and Deprecated), the pluralization of company names, and various other issues. Be sure to check out the comments for even more...