  PEGs are a formal grammar foundation for describing syntax, and are not hard
to generate parsers with a plain recursive decent parsing. However, the large
amount of C-stack consumption in the recursive parsing is not acceptable
especially in resource-restricted embedded systems. Alternatively, we have
attempted the machine virtualization approach to PEG-based parsing. MiniNez,
our implemented virtual machine, is presented in this paper with several
downsizing techniques, including instruction specialization, inline expansion
and static flow analysis. As a result, the MiniNez machine achieves both a very
small footprint and competitive performance to generated C parsers. We have
demonstrated the experimental results by comparing on two major embedded
platforms: Cortex-A7 and Intel Atom processor.

Programming Languages