Handwritten Lexers
Handwritten lexers are custom-built lexical analyzers created manually by developers to tokenize input text, typically as part of a compiler or interpreter. They involve writing code that scans characters sequentially to identify patterns and produce tokens, often using state machines or regular expressions. This approach offers fine-grained control over tokenization, allowing for optimization and handling of complex or domain-specific language features.
Developers should learn handwritten lexers when building compilers, interpreters, or parsers for custom languages, as they provide better performance and flexibility than generated lexers in scenarios with intricate syntax or performance-critical applications. They are particularly useful for embedded systems, domain-specific languages, or when integrating with existing codebases where automated tools might not suffice.