As PGE is successively being replaced and superceded by pmichaud++'s nqp-rx, I find myself stuck in the past, wanting to investigate how regex-based parsing has been done all this time in Rakudo. I became so hung up on it that I started writing my own Perl 6 port of it, and gave a presentation about it at Baltic Perl Workshop.

But somehow, that wasn't enough. I want more. I plan to write a code review of PGE, somewhere around Christmas 2009. But before that, I'd like to blog about the things I've learned looking at the PGE code: about parsing, about parsers, and about regular expressions.

That's why, as soon as this November thing comes to a conclusion, I'll be blogging about "the 7 wonders of the ancient Perl 6 grammar engine". The intended target group is people who feel they could use a comprehensive walk through the internals of a regex parser, thus getting a firmer grip on regular expressions. I figure if I unload all such info in a series of posts, the review itself can focus more on the literary aspects of the PGE source code. Also, the series, about two posts a week, will coincide with my finishing up GGE, the PGE port.

You might ask yourself what the 7 wonders might be. I don't know yet, but I have some ideas already. Those who watched my presentation know I like quantifiers, and readers of this blog know I have a soft spot for OPTable . But we'll see; no need for premature solidification.