Chapter 4, Problem 2RQ

Explanation of Solution

Lexical analysis and syntax analysis:

Syntax analyzer phase in compilation process is the step in which the “tokens” in the programs are identified and recognize whether they are specified in a valid way. In simple words, tokens are the keywords, identifiers and operators in a program. Often, syntax analysis consists of two parts, namely:

• Lexical analysis: It does the analysis of small language constructs like names and numeric literals.
• Syntax analysis: It does the analysis of large constructs like expressions and program units.

The following three reasons explain why lexical analysis is a separate part from the syntax analyzing process.

Simplicity:

The process of lexical analysis needs relatively less complex techniques than syntax analysis. So, separating low-level details of lexical analysis from syntax analysis make the process of lexical analysis simple, small and clean...