Re: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof

That's some mighty fine left brain thinking there( especially for a Monday morning ), but does it in anyway affect any practical aspect of Perl? Like can it be used to show that Perl is more or less reliable/secure? This isn't a criticism of your node, but I left college 35 years ago, and this sort of analysis seems very ivory-tower-ish to me now. It's sort of like saying "one cannot prove self-existence". Is the fact that Perl cannot parse itself a good or bad thing, or can other languages do it? Does that make them superior? Should it be a design criteria for Perl6? What am I missing?

I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. Cogito ergo sum a bum

Comment on Re: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof

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Re^2: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof by moritz (Cardinal) on Jan 21, 2008 at 17:57 UTC
As Jeffrey pointed out it means that you can't reliably parse perl code without executing it. This means that things like static code analysis, code transformation and syntax hilighting will never be reliable. This is a drawback indeed, but on the other hand it means that modules can extend Perl's syntax, and that other nifty stuff can be accomplished. So I understand this node as a proof of a property that is seldom fully understood.	[reply]
Re^2: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jan 21, 2008 at 18:47 UTC
Let's see: You can't statically analyse a dynamic language. (Ig)Nobel award materiale if ever I heard it. Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. "Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."	[reply]
Re^3: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof by Anonymous Monk on Apr 13, 2018 at 23:57 UTC
I don't think the fact that Perl is dynamic has anything to do with it. Lisp (of any dialect) is a dynamic language and is trivially easy to parse. The grammar of the language and its type system are two entirely different things.	[reply]
Re^2: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof by Anonymous Monk on Jan 21, 2008 at 18:03 UTC
It means Perl is alive, ALIVE!!	[reply]
Re^3: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof by Anonymous Monk on Jan 21, 2008 at 22:54 UTC
You every try parsing a CAT? Hell, dogs just go right in the parser with very little coaxing -- but cats? Oh man! You need thick rubber gloves and a spotter (usually a dog).	[reply]
Re^4: Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof by heptadecagram (Novice) on Aug 14, 2009 at 11:36 UTC
It helps if you have a map of the cat.	[reply]


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