All of the parser-generator tools are really opaque and not something that can be easily used for simple things. On the other hand, recursive descent parsers are something that can be whipped easily if you have a little project. And the problem is that a lot programmers both can't produce a recursive descent parser AND don't know when their problem domain is moving into a place where such a thing is needed.
Fair enough. They're not rocket science conceptually - but I have to relearn the tools each time. Not a huge deal - a couple of hours - but I was thinking that you were claiming I needed to have it down as cold as when I got out of CS 202 (or whatever that thing was).
All of the parser-generator tools are really opaque and not something that can be easily used for simple things. On the other hand, recursive descent parsers are something that can be whipped easily if you have a little project. And the problem is that a lot programmers both can't produce a recursive descent parser AND don't know when their problem domain is moving into a place where such a thing is needed.