Anyone interested in a Spirit for D?

[Richard Koch]

Bill Baxter wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>> I think it would be worth looking at again. The C# version of it 
>> doesn't use operator overloading or even templates.
> 
> Huh.  Very interesting.  Here's the example:
> 
> // spirit:
> num_p >> *( ch_p(',') >> num_p)
> 
> // C#
> Ops.Seq( Prims.Digit, Ops.Start( Ops.Seq(Prims.Ch(','), Prims.Digit)))
> 
> Though it's definitely not as easy to read, I think I might actually 
> prefer the C# version.  Part of the annoyance with Boost super-clever 
> use of operator-overloading is that it can be a real pain to discover 
> things because they don't have real names.
> 
> I bet the C# version could be compacted with some aliases or imports 
> (assuming C# has these):
>   Seq( Digit, Start( Seq(Ch(','), Digit)))
> 
> That doesn't look too bad to me.
> 
> Still it would rock the world if you could just do:
>   parser("digit (',' digit)*");
> and have the grammar be verified at compile-time.
> 
>> I think it would be a complete rewrite.
>>
>> The reason I'm interested in it for D is that:
>>
>> 1) it's a pretty cool library
>> 2) it's one of Boost's most popular ones
>> 3) it's been touted as a reason why D is no good and C++ roolz
>> 4) it's popular enough to have been a driving force behind 
>> improvements in C++ compilers
>> 5) it would surely improve D
>> 6) and last, and most importantly, it's very useful
> 
> Excellent reasons.
> 
> --bb
all that is cool, but (i know i am the dummy here) readability as in bnf 
is something that eludes me. better to go for coco?

richard