Contributor Documentation

The preprocessor is a functor: scalpel::cpp::preprocessor.

Since the source code preprocessing job is entirely delegated to Boost.Wave, there is little to say about it. Just read the source code, it's a typical use case.

The syntax analyzer is also a functor: scalpel::cpp::syntax_analyzer.

The syntax analysis is powered by Boost.Spirit Classic.

	Why not Spirit v2?
	When the Scalpel project started, Spirit v2 wasn't stable yet. The (painful) migration just has to be done!

First of all, the syntax analyzer generates a parse tree, using one of the Boost.Spirit's parse functions. This function takes two arguments: the input pure C++ source code and an instance of the grammar class.

The grammar class defines the whole C++ grammar (in the Boost.Spirit's BNF-like format). This is the main submodule of the syntax analyzer (and even one of the biggest pieces of code of Scalpel). It is located in the scalpel::cpp::detail::syntax_analysis namespace. It's terribly huge. Keep out of reach of children. No kidding.

In order to keep a loose coupling with Boost.Spirit, the Spirit-formatted parse tree is converted into a syntax_tree object. The set of functions related to this conversion is located in the scalpel::cpp::detail::syntax_analysis::parse_tree_to_syntax_tree namespace.

Finally, the syntax_tree object is outputted by the syntax analyzer.

Following the example of the preprocessor and the syntax analyzer, the semantic analyzer is a functor: scalpel::cpp::semantic_analyzer.

The semantic analysis is the most complex part of Scalpel. It is still under development. Consequently, it's not possible for now to write a documentation about it. The best way to understand it is to read the source code and to subscribe to the mailing list.