The suitability of language syntaxes for program generation
A Lomax · ACM SIGPLAN Notices · 1987
ABSTRAC TStandard BNF-type syntax definitions for programming languages are traditionall y written with the needs of compiler writers in mind ; they are not aimed at providing hel p for the programmer .As such, they are not particularly suitable for direct use by a syntax-directed program editor.By describing some of the changes to BNF-type syntax specifications that improv e the interface to the program-editor, PED [1], this paper suggests ways of improving th e presentation of language definitions to programmers .PED is a screen-based program editor that can be used on any language for which it has a syntax specification .At present it has specifications for Pascal, C, Algol 68, Modula-2, and Ada .