Answers

Here are the answers to this chapter’s questions:

1. Parsing is the act of turning a, usually human-readable, structured text into a data structure that can be easily processed in software.
2. Parser combinators are an embedded DSL for parsing. They define parsers in a compositional way, assembling primitive parsers into larger ones.
3. Parser combinators have several advantages:
   • They are more convenient to write than hand-rolling your own parser
   • As an embedded DSL, they are easily integrated into a code base and do not hamper the development process
   • They do not require learning a new language and have a low threshold for entry
   • Monad parsers are very flexible and expressive; the parsing behavior can be determined dynamically
4. Parser combinators also have several disadvantages compared to parser generators:
   • Their performance is usually not as good as that of parser generators and can be pathologically bad if we aren’t careful (for example, in the case of left...