Source Code Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)

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An Source Code Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) is a tree representation of the abstract syntactic structure of source code (written in a programming language).



References

2021

  • (Wikipedia, 2021) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_syntax_tree Retrieved:2021-2-20.
    • In computer science, an abstract syntax tree (AST), or just syntax tree, is a tree representation of the abstract syntactic structure of source code written in a programming language. Each node of the tree denotes a construct occurring in the source code.

      The syntax is "abstract" in the sense that it does not represent every detail appearing in the real syntax, but rather just the structural or content-related details. For instance, grouping parentheses are implicit in the tree structure, so these do not have to be represented as separate nodes. Likewise, a syntactic construct like an if-condition-then expression may be denoted by means of a single node with three branches.

      This distinguishes abstract syntax trees from concrete syntax trees, traditionally designated parse trees. Parse trees are typically built by a parser during the source code translation and compiling process. Once built, additional information is added to the AST by means of subsequent processing, e.g., contextual analysis.

      Abstract syntax trees are also used in program analysis and program transformation systems.

2018

2018