Writing a JSON Parser in BQN
a day ago
- #BQN
- #JSON-parser
- #array-programming
- BQN is an array programming language in the APL family.
- The article describes writing a JSON parser in BQN, focusing on parsing lists of integers and strings.
- The parser avoids branching and uses flat arrays for efficiency.
- Tokenization involves replacing numbers with '0' and removing commas, then returning tokenized arrays and numbers.
- Parsing involves reconstructing nested lists from flat representations using depth scans and permutations.
- Strings are handled by identifying and escaping quotes, with backslash-based escaping supported.
- Objects are parsed by distinguishing keys and values, using depth and nesting information.
- The parser is compact, efficient, and handles typical JSON structures like lists, strings, and objects.
- Debugging is straightforward due to the lack of branching and flat array operations.
- The article concludes that while writing parsers in array languages is challenging, it is also highly enjoyable.