Chapter 19. BNF
Formally define the syntax of a programming language.
19.1 How It Works
BNF (and EBNF) is a way of writing grammars to define the syntax of a language. BNF (or Backus-Naur Form, to give it its full name) was invented to describe the Algol language in the 60s. Since then, BNF grammars have been widely used both for explanation and to drive Syntax-Directed Translation.
You’ve almost certainly come across BNF when learning about a new language—or rather, you’ve sort-of come across it. In a wonderful display of irony, BNF, a language for defining syntax, does not itself have a standard syntax. Pretty much any time you run into a ...
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