The professor of mathematics authored a peer-reviewed journal article on the heuristic construction of small LR(1) grammars.
Jeff Clark, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has published an article on the interactive construction of small LR(1) grammars.
Many introductory texts in compiler theory present grammars that have already been constructed without an indication of how to go about constructing them. Clark’s research outlines a heuristic approach to construction of small grammars, focusing on the identification of the simplest unaccepted string.
Often such a string indicates an error condition, which can be articulated with a grammar production. As errors are identified, the newest simplest unaccepted string yields successful grammar productions, and ideally, a complete grammar accepting all input strings and identifying error inputs rather than exiting.
Clark’s research appears in the Fall 2014 issue of the Missouri Journal of Mathematical Sciences.