Deterministic parsing

<p>In <a href="/facts/Natural_language_processing/1hjMKsSN">natural language processing</a>, deterministic parsing refers to <a href="/facts/Parsing/nRKB01S3">parsing</a> <a href="/facts/Algorithm/fnl5NmRt">algorithms</a> that do not <a href="/facts/Backtracking/Jm9vDUk8">backtrack</a>. <a href="/facts/LR_parser/bpMod8K0">LR-parsers</a> are an example. (This meaning of the words "deterministic" and "non-deterministic" differs from that used to describe <a href="/facts/Nondeterministic_algorithm/UubLdp3D">nondeterministic algorithms</a>.)
</p><p>The deterministic behavior is desired and expected in <a href="/facts/Compiler/WNfCDFJe">compiling</a> <a href="/facts/Programming_language/cWTYbgWa">programming languages</a>. In natural language processing, it was thought for a long time that deterministic parsing is impossible due to ambiguity inherent in natural languages (many sentences have more than one plausible parse). Thus, non-deterministic approaches such as the <a href="/facts/Chart_parser/0fBhnB1Y">chart parser</a> had to be applied. However, Mitch Marcus proposed in 1978 the Parsifal parser that was able to deal with <a href="/facts/Syntactic_ambiguity/xPxLnwxt">ambiguities</a> while still keeping the deterministic behavior.
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Deterministic parsing open-in-new

Deterministic parsing