Parser combinators

• In the functional world, it is traditional for parsers to be functions, and for (monadic) combiners to build them up, as in the grammar

• I wrote a parser like this for Brisk, with the combiners very close to the grammar symbols

• There are problems with this approach:

  • it is still difficult to debug, and to report errors well
  • it doesn't offer much help in development
  • it is difficult to adapt to other paradigms