Efficient Context-Free Grammar parser, preferably Python-friendly

Question

I am in need of parsing a small subset of English for one of my project, described as a context-free grammar with (1-level) feature structures (example) and I need to do it

Answer 1

By all means take a look at Pyparsing. It's the most pythonic implementations of parsing I've come across, and it's a great design from a purely academic standpoint.

I used both ANTLR and JavaCC to teach translator and compiler theory at a local university. They're both good and mature, but I wouldn't use them in a Python project.

That said, unlike programming languages, natural languages are much more about the semantics than about the syntax, so you could be much better off skipping the learning curves of existing parsing tools, going with a home-brewed (top-down, backtracking, unlimited lookahead) lexical analyzer and parser, and spending the bulk of your time writing the code that figures out what a parsed, but ambiguous, natural-language sentence means.

Answer 2

I think ANTLR is the best parser-generator that I know of for Java. I don't know if Jython would provide you a good way for Python and Java to interact.