Re^3: Are state machines just for parsing?

[osunderdog]

To mis-quote a former US President:

It depends on how you parse "Parse".

In some sense receiving an event is very much like looking at the next character in a file. You either expect it or you don't. It all depends on what your language is.

Someone pointed out FOLDOC eariler so here's a reference to Parser.

[talexb]

Well, m-w defines parse as follows:

1. 1. : to resolve (as a sentence) into component parts of speech and describe them grammatically
   2. : to describe grammatically by stating the part of speech and explaining the inflection and syntactical relationships
2. : to examine in a minute way : analyze critically [parses appellate court opinions]
So to use 'parse' as the verb that means 'look at what actions are happening and respond in a certain manner' is being generous.

I think this is a case where we'll have to agree to disagree.

[benizi]

It's worth noting that your source doesn't even have an entry for the programming sense of "parse", and so seems an odd way to back up your argument. AHD's entry for "parse" (4 ed., via dictionary.com) contains:

parse v. tr. ... 4. Computer Science: To analyze or separate (input, for example) into more easily processed components.

That seems to encompass what Anonymonk described as "parsing" -- analyzing (TCP/IP) input into more easily processed components. It's still not in my lexicon with that broad a sense, though; my take is probably closer to M-W sense 1.1, without restricting the domain to { things that have "component parts of speech" } (i.e. the first M-W sense without limiting it to "natural" languages).