The TASM Language Reference Manual Version 1.1 - Synrc

etter achieved through two sets of syntax. The semantics of both sets of syntax are
equivalent and are described in Section 4.
The following section explains the formal grammar that is used to express the basic
concepts from the previous section, such as types, constants, variables, expressions, etc.
The formal grammar is used in both the XML and text syntaxes where applicable to
define the format of strings. The formal grammar is given in Backus-Naur Form (BNF)
where the syntactic symbol ’|’ means ”or”, ’[]’ means optional, and ’{}’ means 0 or
more instances (Kleene closure). The special form of the closure operator, denoted
’{} + ’ means 1 or more instances. Any constant is given inside of single quotation
marks. For example, the keyword denoting the type integer is given as ’Integer’. It is
important to distinguish between the syntactical ”optional symbol ’]’ and the constant
denoting the right bracket ”]”.
3.2.1 Basic Grammar
Formally, the BNF grammars for the concepts described so far is given below. The
first part of the basic grammar explains the rules for constructing names, constants,
and types. The second part of the grammar explains the rules for constructing expressions,
variables, and formulas. The TASM language ignores whitespace unless
whitespace is required. When whitespace is required, it is denoted by the token <
T ASMW hitespace >. Tab characters, space characters, new line characters, carriage
return characters, and form feed characters all represent whitespace.
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