Cabal: A conspiratorial group of plotters or intriguers [from dictionary.com].

Abstract

We met in Medford, Oregon for 3 days July 12-14, 2003 to discuss the future of ANTLR. Specifically, we wanted to discuss what a future version of ANTLR (3.0) would look like. We made a list of what we didn't like about the current system and made a wishlist for ANTLR 3. There are four raw, stream-of-consciousness documents that resulted from the cabal. The documents are summarized and linked to below. Feel free to comment on the documents to the antlr-interest list, but the real "request for comments" will occur once a real whitepaper has been flessed out.

Let me point out that an ANTLR 3 is not just going to pop out at any moment. It might take 2 years to complete, but who knows--it might be sooner. As a professor now (Terence), I should be able to devote lots of time to ANTLR.

Cabal Spawn

Typical Usage. Before jumping into the future, we decided to list how we thought people used ANTLR.

Design and Implementation Principles. A few things that we thought we should keep in mind when building the new system.

Cabal Notes. A stream of consciousness from the cabal, with Terence taking the notes.

Outline for ANTLR 3 whitepaper. This is a summary of the issues with ANTLR 2 and how we plan on fixing them in ANTLR 3. We also discuss the interesting new features for tree building, rewriting, and code emitting. Actual full details of the new system will be fleshed out in the ANTLR 3 documentation written after the prototyping phase is complete. This whitepaper discusses the general features of the new ANTLR 3 system.

Pictures

Check out some photos Monty did with an old low-resolution camera. :)

3 Nerds Hard at Work (left-to-right: Loring Craymer, Monty Zukowski, Terence Parr