C++ program to find syntax error

Question

I am trying to code a C++ program which will read a .cpp/.c file and find the syntax error in that like missing semi colons,braces,etc. I need this program to find at least 15 syntax error. Any idea on logic like how to do it?

I came up with this for braces like to count the number of opening braces and no of closing braces and both should be equal

@Jarod42 syntax analysis of C is not hard task, if you go with proper tools. C++ analysis is way too harder to implement. — Nemanja Boric, Jan 03 '14 at 12:38
"I need this program to find at least 15 syntax error": what does that mean? — Bathsheba, Jan 03 '14 at 12:40
@Bathsheba it will open the file read it and says like missing semi colon in line 4, mismatched braces, etc — , Jan 03 '14 at 12:41
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/526797/good-tools-for-creating-a-c-c-parser-analyzer — Nemanja Boric, Jan 03 '14 at 12:43
Simply *counting* the braces is no good: `int main(){}return 0;{}`. Try a state machine. — Jongware, Jan 03 '14 at 12:46
`I came up with this for braces like to count the number of opening braces and no of closing braces and both should be equal` `for(int i;{ i < n; i++}){}` — Nemanja Boric, Jan 03 '14 at 12:47
You can't simply count braces. For example, what about the *trigraph* ??< (which is an opening brace)? The point I'm making is that you will be forever having to fix edge cases which a *compiler* will gobble up with ease. @Yousf answer is reasonable. — Bathsheba, Jan 03 '14 at 12:49
Strings and comments containing braces will also mess with your brace counting algorithm. — JBentley, Jan 03 '14 at 12:52
This task is mission impossible for a beginner. Especially if you should program it in C++... — HiFile.app - best file manager, Jan 03 '14 at 12:52
If he may have false positive/negative, it is doable if he choose the rules carefully. — Jarod42, Jan 03 '14 at 12:54
Do you need to find ALL syntax errors? Or is it enough to find a specific set of syntax errors? — Bo M. Petersen, Jan 03 '14 at 14:13
@sameer If you can provide a list of some specific syntax errors you need to find, them you might be able help one some of them. — Bo M. Petersen, Jan 06 '14 at 20:12

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 03 '14 at 12:40

2

The easiest solution is to use Clang compiler, and create a plugin for it to do any custom checks on the code.

answered Jan 03 '14 at 12:40

Yousf

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I dont know what it is, I am saying that the program will open the file read it character by character or lines – Jan 03 '14 at 12:51
If you don´t know clang, just google it. You´ll need some time to learn how to write a plugin, but (as others said before) writing such a thing from scatch is not only much work and hard work, but impossible without much experience. – deviantfan Jan 03 '14 at 13:26

C++ program to find syntax error

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