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In computer science, an operator-precedence parser is a bottom-up parser that interprets an operator-precedence grammar.For example, most calculators use operator-precedence parsers to convert from the human-readable infix notation relying on order of operations to a format that is optimized for evaluation such as Reverse Polish notation (RPN).
The rank of an operation is called its precedence, and an operation with a higher precedence is performed before operations with lower precedence. Calculators generally perform operations with the same precedence from left to right, [ 1 ] but some programming languages and calculators adopt different conventions.
The operator precedence is a number (from high to low or vice versa) that defines which operator takes an operand that is surrounded by two operators of different precedence (or priority). Multiplication normally has higher precedence than addition, [ 1 ] for example, so 3+4×5 = 3+(4×5) ≠ (3+4)×5.
The associativity and precedence of an operator is a part of the definition of the programming language; different programming languages may have different associativity and precedence for the same type of operator. Consider the expression a ~ b ~ c. If the operator ~ has left associativity, this expression would be interpreted as (a ~ b) ~ c.
If the symbol is an operator, it is pushed onto the operator stack b), d), f). If the operator's precedence is lower than that of the operators at the top of the stack or the precedences are equal and the operator is left associative, then that operator is popped off the stack and added to the output g).
In precedence parsers, the right end of handles are found by comparing the precedence level or grammar tightness of the top stack symbols to that of the lookahead symbol. In the example above, int and id belong to inner grammar levels compared to the statement delimiter ; .
For example, consider variables a, b and c of some user-defined type, such as matrices: a + b * c. In a language that supports operator overloading, and with the usual assumption that the '*' operator has higher precedence than the '+' operator, this is a concise way of writing: Add(a, Multiply(b, c))
In APL the precedence hierarchy for functions or operators is strictly positional: expressions are evaluated right-to-left. APL does not follow the usual operator precedence of other programming languages; for example, × does not bind its operands any more "tightly" than +. Instead of operator precedence, APL defines a notion of scope.