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(bison.info)Semantic Values


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Semantic Values
===============

   A formal grammar selects tokens only by their classifications: for
example, if a rule mentions the terminal symbol `integer constant', it
means that _any_ integer constant is grammatically valid in that
position.  The precise value of the constant is irrelevant to how to
parse the input: if `x+4' is grammatical then `x+1' or `x+3989' is
equally grammatical.

   But the precise value is very important for what the input means
once it is parsed.  A compiler is useless if it fails to distinguish
between 4, 1 and 3989 as constants in the program!  Therefore, each
token in a Bison grammar has both a token type and a "semantic value".
Note: Defining Language Semantics, for details.

   The token type is a terminal symbol defined in the grammar, such as
`INTEGER', `IDENTIFIER' or `',''.  It tells everything you need to know
to decide where the token may validly appear and how to group it with
other tokens.  The grammar rules know nothing about tokens except their
types.

   The semantic value has all the rest of the information about the
meaning of the token, such as the value of an integer, or the name of an
identifier.  (A token such as `','' which is just punctuation doesn't
need to have any semantic value.)

   For example, an input token might be classified as token type
`INTEGER' and have the semantic value 4.  Another input token might
have the same token type `INTEGER' but value 3989.  When a grammar rule
says that `INTEGER' is allowed, either of these tokens is acceptable
because each is an `INTEGER'.  When the parser accepts the token, it
keeps track of the token's semantic value.

   Each grouping can also have a semantic value as well as its
nonterminal symbol.  For example, in a calculator, an expression
typically has a semantic value that is a number.  In a compiler for a
programming language, an expression typically has a semantic value that
is a tree structure describing the meaning of the expression.


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