Top down operator precedence

Abstract

There is little agreement on the extent to which syntax should be a consideration in the design and implementation of programming languages. At one extreme, it is considered vital, and one may go to any lengths [Van Wijngaarden 1969, McKeeman 1970] to provide adequate syntactic capabilities. The other extreme is the spartan denial of a need for a rich syntax [Minsky 1970]. In between, we find some language implementers willing to incorporate as much syntax as possible provided they do not have to work hard at it [Wirth 1971].