Rating: 
Summary: This book answers "Why do we need parsing?"
Review: The most interesting thing that this book discuss is the reason why we even bother to learn parsing today: Modern enterprise-level software development. This type of software development has the responsibility to bridge the gap between software design expert and business expert. One very effective and flexible way to do this is by creating and using mini-languages (this is where the book comes in) that are tailored specifically for each business domain. This mini-languages are not used by developers, rather the business experts themselves. The result is an enterprise system that is built, customized and maintained by business experts. This will minimize (even eliminate) the hefty building, customizing, and maintaining cost if they were done by developers (i.e. very appealing and cost-effetive business case!). I also like the way the author establishes the scope of the discussions such as how he sticks with one out of three or four available parsing methods. This alone has decreased the level of complexity of this book from textbook to practical level.
Rating:
Summary: This book answers "Why do we need parsing?"
Review: The most interesting thing that this book discuss is the reason why we even bother to learn parsing today: Modern enterprise-level software development. This type of software development has the responsibility to bridge the gap between software design expert and business expert. One very effective and flexible way to do this is by creating and using mini-languages (this is where the book comes in) that are tailored specifically for each business domain. This mini-languages are not used by developers, rather the business experts themselves. The result is an enterprise system that is built, customized and maintained by business experts. This will minimize (even eliminate) the hefty building, customizing, and maintaining cost if they were done by developers (i.e. very appealing and cost-effetive business case!). I also like the way the author establishes the scope of the discussions such as how he sticks with one out of three or four available parsing methods. This alone has decreased the level of complexity of this book from textbook to practical level.
Rating: 
Summary: Fair -- But somewhat incomplete
Review: This book is well written with few spelling/typographical errors. However, it's title is a bit misleading. I expected the book to explain how to develop a parser from the ground up (tokenizing the input strings, recognizing the syntax, dispatching to appropriate code based on the recognized symbols, etc.) Instead, the book shows how to build parsers using the authors own parser toolkit. The toolkit seems to be quite good, with lots of useful facilities. However I found myself frustrated because it seemed like the most interesting topics were effectively avoided by making them part of the toolkit. Want to build an interpreter? Use the author's "Engine" class -- just pass it your language rules. Want to parse a different language? Use the author's parser tools, just pass it information about the syntax. Still, the book does provide good descriptions of the spaces between the low-level details of tokenizing and interpreting. It's just dissapointing that it doesn't provide more coverage of the "black arts" of parser design.
Rating:
Summary: Fair -- But somewhat incomplete
Review: This book is well written with few spelling/typographical errors. However, it's title is a bit misleading. I expected the book to explain how to develop a parser from the ground up (tokenizing the input strings, recognizing the syntax, dispatching to appropriate code based on the recognized symbols, etc.) Instead, the book shows how to build parsers using the authors own parser toolkit. The toolkit seems to be quite good, with lots of useful facilities. However I found myself frustrated because it seemed like the most interesting topics were effectively avoided by making them part of the toolkit. Want to build an interpreter? Use the author's "Engine" class -- just pass it your language rules. Want to parse a different language? Use the author's parser tools, just pass it information about the syntax. Still, the book does provide good descriptions of the spaces between the low-level details of tokenizing and interpreting. It's just dissapointing that it doesn't provide more coverage of the "black arts" of parser design.
Rating:
Summary: So-so text/good java libraries
Review: This book sort of misses the mark, but still holds good/great value. The book is about how to build parsers using the author's framework (included in the CD, and licensed to use for any purpose), rather than how to build your own framework (what I expected from the title). I think the book would have been much better (in didactic terms) if it would have started from ground zero and built the parser library rather than just focus on example cases. There is a lot of insight there that a reader will only get by careful reading of the parsing framework's code (knowledge which would have been better disseminated through the book). I would have rated it 5 stars if it weren't for my disappointment that the book was NOT on the parser but on its API. Also useful would have been a section on performance. The fully OO parser is sure not to be as speedy but that remains to be measured. Downfalls? The text is not very exciting but then again we are talking about parsing, the examples could have been a little more interesting to spice it up a bit. The architecture of the parser is fairly good. There are some implementation issues that can easily be solved using the extensible nature of the framework and a good refactoring browser like IntelliJ's Idea. Code style is excellent, save for few "abbreviated method names".
Rating:
Summary: Useful Parser Pattern
Review: This is one of the most useful programming books I have picked up in years. Yes, it is all about SJM's original API for creating and using parsers, but the libraries he offers and explains are immediately implementable. Rather than more "ships and cabins", one can get down to work on one's own business problem quickly. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Useful Parser Pattern
Review: This is one of the most useful programming books I have picked up in years. Yes, it is all about SJM's original API for creating and using parsers, but the libraries he offers and explains are immediately implementable. Rather than more "ships and cabins", one can get down to work on one's own business problem quickly. Highly recommended.
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