## $Id: /mirror/trunk/languages/pynie/README 31272 2008-09-18T20:11:33.632764Z pmichaud  $

=head1 Pynie - A Python compiler for Parrot

This is a Pynie parser/compiler, an early version (no version numbers
yet).  It's still very early, only simple expressions and functions are
available.

However, even though this is not a complete compiler yet, you can
still see how programs are parsed, help us create test cases, and
extend/improve the grammar and runtime to cover more of Python.
Here's how the system currently works:

=head2 Compiling

Pynie lives in pynie.pbc.  To create this file, simply issue
the command

  $ make

To invoke pynie on a Python program from a shell prompt, use:

  $ parrot pynie.pbc foo.py

To run interactively, entering single-line statements:

  $ parrot pynie.pbc

Note that pynie's interactive mode is not yet up to spec
with Python's interactive mode (it doesn't handle blocks yet).

To display the parse tree, add the "--target=parse" option:

  $ parrot pynie.pbc --target=parse foo.py

Or, to display the abstract syntax tree, the opcode syntax tree,
or the generated PIR code, use "--target=PAST", "--target=POST",
or "--target=PIR".

  $ parrot pynie.pbc

=head2 Files

The "top" file for the parser is F<pynie.pir> which is used to
create the F<pynie.pbc> file.  It initializes the overall
parsing system and registers the parser as a Parrot "Pynie" compiler.

The other files needed for the compiler are in the F<src/> subdirectory.

The F<src/parser/Grammar.pg> file defines the tokens, rules,
and protos for Python.  Much of this has been taken from
the "Python Language Reference Manual (release 2.3)" by
Guido van Rossum (Fred L. Drake, Jr., editor).  PGE's "Perl6Grammar.pbc"
compiler is then used to compile the two grammar files into
F<src/parser/Grammar_gen.pir>, which is included by F<pynie.pir>.
(See Synopsis 5 for more details on Perl 6 rules syntax,
and F<compilers/pge/> for more details about PGE.)

The F<src/parse.pir> file defines a few special-purpose
rules needed to support parsing that are better written
directly in PIR instead of using the rules or token syntax.
Currently this file defines the C<< <expression> >> rule,
which just calls into the operator precedence parser.

The file F<src/parser/Actions.pm> defines the actions that are
invoked during the parse. These actions construct the Parrot AST
(PAST) nodes. At the end of the parse, the whole PAST is constructed
and handed off to the next compilation phases (PAST->POST->PIR)

The file F<src/PAST/Grammar.tg> is a tree grammar that specifies
how to convert the parse tree into the abstract syntax tree (PAST).
This file is no longer used in the current implementation.

The PIR files in F<src/builtins> are included as part of
compiling F<pynie.pir> to produce F<pynie.pbc>.

The F<pynie.pbc> file can also be used to compile Python code
from PIR:

    load_bytecode 'pynie.pbc'
    $S0 = 'print "hello world"'          # source code to compile
    $P0 = compreg('Pynie')               # obtain the compiler
    $P1 = $P0($S0)                       # compile source code
    $P1()                                # execute

One can also provide the "target" option to the compiler:

    $P1 = $P0($S0, 'target'=>'parse')    # obtain parse tree
    $P1 = $P0($S0, 'target'=>'PAST')     # get AST
    $P1 = $P0($S0, 'target'=>'POST')     # get OST
    $P1 = $P0($S0, 'target'=>'PIR')      # get PIR

=head1 Submitting Bugs/Patches

Patches/bugs/suggestions can be sent to <http://launchpad.net/pynie>.

=head1 AUTHOR

Patrick Michaud <pmichaud@pobox.com> is the current author and
maintainer.

=cut

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