formgram 0.0.4

formal grammar teaching toolkit

Formgram is a toolkit for teaching and or learning formal grammars with a focus on exploring the code and experimenting with and on it.

Students can use it to verify their findings in exercise problems and to understand taught algorithms by looking at their implemented form (and experimenting on them to see where those might break).

Teachers can use it to teach algorithms in their implemented form as an alternative to pure mathematical pseudocode.

>>> from formgram.classes.grammar import Grammar
>>> grammar_string = \
>>> """ # A simple context free grammar
>>> <Sentence> ::= <Subject> " " <Verb> " " <Object>
>>> <Subject> ::= <Noun>
>>> <Object> ::= <Noun>
>>> <Verb> ::= "bites" | "adores"
>>> <Noun> ::= "Human" | "Dog" | "Cat"
>>> """
>>> grammar = Grammar.from_str(grammar_string)
>>> type(grammar)
formgram.classes.grammar.ContextFreeGrammar

Installing Formgram and Supported Versions

Formgram is available on PyPI:

$ python -m pip install formgram

Formgram is written and tested on Python 3.8 and should work on any later version.

Features

Formgram is created to enable working with formal grammars in context of a lecture on formal languages. It

• Determine Chomsky hierarchy level

• Determine grammar normal forms

• Import/export grammars to string format

• Transform to and from corresponding machines

API Reference and User Guide available on gwdg pages