Compiler Design Unit 2 Notes

CS603(C) Compiler Design Unit 2 study material for RGPV CSE 6th Semester. Learn Syntax Analysis, Context Free Grammar, Top Down Parsing, Recursive Descent Parsing, Predictive Parsing, Bottom Up Parsing, LR Parsers, SLR, LALR, Syntax Directed Definitions and Syntax Trees.

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Unit 2 Overview

Unit 2 explains how a compiler checks whether the token stream follows grammar rules. Syntax analysis is one of the most important compiler phases because it creates the structure of the program using parse trees or syntax trees.

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Syntax Analysis

Understand grammar, parse tree, syntax tree and the role of parser in compilation.

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Top Down Parsing

Study recursive descent parsing, predictive parsing and LL-style parsing methods.

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Bottom Up Parsing

Learn operator precedence parsing, LR parsing, SLR, LALR and parser generation.

Unit 2 Topics Covered

Complete syllabus-based topics of Compiler Design Unit 2.

Syntax Analysis

Syntax analysis checks the grammatical structure of token stream and generates parse tree or syntax tree.

Context Free Grammar (CFG)

CFG is used to describe the syntax of programming languages using terminals, non-terminals, productions and start symbol.

Top Down Parsing

Top down parsing starts from the start symbol and tries to derive the input string.

Recursive Descent Parsing

A top down parsing technique where each non-terminal is implemented using a recursive procedure.

Predictive Parsing

Predictive parsing is a non-backtracking top down parsing technique that uses lookahead symbols.

Bottom Up Parsing

Bottom up parsing starts from input string and reduces it to the start symbol of grammar.

Operator Precedence Parsing

A bottom up parsing technique based on precedence relations between operators.

LR Parsers

LR parsers scan input from left to right and produce rightmost derivation in reverse.

SLR Parser

Simple LR parser is easier to construct and uses LR(0) items with FOLLOW sets.

LALR Parser

Look Ahead LR parser is commonly used in compiler tools because it is powerful and table size is manageable.

Parser Generation

Parser generators automatically generate parser code from grammar specifications.

Syntax Directed Definitions

SDD associates semantic rules with grammar productions for computing attributes.

Syntax Directed Translation

Syntax directed translation translates source constructs using grammar rules and semantic actions.

S-Attributed Definition

S-attributed definition uses only synthesized attributes and is suitable for bottom up evaluation.

L-Attributed Definition

L-attributed definition uses synthesized and restricted inherited attributes for top down evaluation.

Syntax Trees

Syntax tree is a compact representation of parse tree that shows essential program structure.

Quick Concept: Parser

Parser: Parser is the syntax analyzer of compiler. It takes tokens from lexical analyzer and checks whether they follow the grammar of the programming language.

Input: Tokens
Output: Parse tree or syntax tree
Main work: Syntax checking and error reporting

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Detailed Notes

Complete Compiler Design Unit 2 notes for syntax analysis and parsing.

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Important Questions

Most expected RGPV questions from Compiler Design Unit 2.

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PYQ Analysis

Previous year question analysis for scoring preparation.

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Important Questions - Compiler Design Unit 2

These questions are useful for 7 marks and 14 marks answers in RGPV exams.

  1. Define syntax analysis. Explain the role of parser.
  2. Explain Context Free Grammar with example.
  3. Differentiate between parse tree and syntax tree.
  4. Explain top down parsing with example.
  5. Explain recursive descent parsing.
  6. Explain predictive parsing and its working.
  7. What is left recursion? Explain its removal.
  8. What is left factoring? Explain with example.
  9. Explain bottom up parsing with example.
  10. Explain shift-reduce parsing.
  11. Explain operator precedence parsing.
  12. Explain LR parsing technique.
  13. Differentiate between SLR, LALR and LR parsers.
  14. Explain construction of SLR parsing table.
  15. Explain parser generation.
  16. Define Syntax Directed Definition with example.
  17. Explain synthesized and inherited attributes.
  18. Differentiate between S-attributed and L-attributed definitions.
  19. Explain syntax directed translation.
  20. Explain analysis of syntax directed definition.

PYQ Analysis Table

High-priority topics from Unit 2 based on common RGPV exam patterns.

Topic Expected Frequency Importance
CFG and Parse Tree Very High ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Top Down Parsing High ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recursive Descent Parsing High ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Predictive Parsing Very High ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bottom Up Parsing High ⭐⭐⭐⭐
LR Parsers Very High ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
SLR and LALR Parser Very High ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Syntax Directed Definition High ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
S-Attributed and L-Attributed Definition High ⭐⭐⭐⭐

FAQs - Compiler Design Unit 2

What is Syntax Analysis?

Syntax analysis checks whether tokens generated by lexical analyzer follow grammar rules.

What is CFG?

CFG stands for Context Free Grammar. It is used to define the syntax of programming languages.

What is Top Down Parsing?

Top down parsing starts from the start symbol and tries to derive the input string.

What is Bottom Up Parsing?

Bottom up parsing starts from input tokens and reduces them to the start symbol.

What is SDD?

Syntax Directed Definition attaches semantic rules to grammar productions.

Which topics are most important in Unit 2?

CFG, predictive parsing, LR parsers, SLR, LALR and syntax directed definitions are important.

Why Study Compiler Design Unit 2?

Exam Point of View

CFG, parsing, LR parsers and syntax directed definitions are frequently asked in RGPV exams.

Concept Foundation

Unit 2 builds the base for semantic analysis, type checking and code generation.

Placement Relevance

Parsing, grammar and compiler concepts are useful for GATE, interviews and programming language design.