Parser Combinators

by Doris Putra 18 October 2026 2 min read 507x views

"Hello, world!"{ greeting: "Hello", who: "world" }

The cord "Hello, world!" parses into an entity alongside salutation "Hello", who "world".

type Parser<T> = (input: string) => [T, string]

["pIntegernumber10, "string 20 30"]

The category Parser of T is a function from an input cord to a brace of a T and the remainder of the string. For example, pInteger cuts "10 20 30" after"10", and returns the figure 10 and the remainder of the string," 20 30".

pHello["Hello", " 100"]

pIgnoreWhitespace[" null", "100"]

pInteger["100", ""]

"Hello 100" parsed by pHello, afterward pIgnoreWhitespace, afterward pInteger, all taking the remainder the one before remaining over: pHello returns "Hello" and " 100". pIgnoreWhitespace returns " " and "100". pInteger returns "100" and "".

pHello100["Hello 100["Hello", null, 100]", ""]

"Hello 100" parsed by pHello100, all taking the remainder the one before remaining over: pHello100 returns "Hello 100" and "".

pSeq( pHello, pIgnoreWhitespace, pInteger )Parser<[ string, null, number ]>

pSeq stated pHello, pIgnoreWhitespace, pInteger is a Parser of the tuple [string, null, number].

const pHello100 = pSeq(...)const outcome = pHello100("Hello 100")

pHello100["Hello 100["Hello", null, 100]", ""]

"Hello 100" parsed by pHello100, all taking the remainder the one before remaining over: pHello100 returns "Hello 100" and "".

pGreeting["Hello 100["Hello", null, 100]{ greeting: "Hello", who: 100 }pMap", ""]

"Hello 100" parsed by pGreeting, all taking the remainder the one before remaining over: pGreeting returns "Hello 100" and "".

pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon)["10;[10, ";"]", "20;30;"]

pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon)["20;[20, ";"]", "30;"]

pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon)["30;[30, ";"]", ""]

"10;20;30;" parsed by pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon), afterward pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon), afterward pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon), all taking the remainder the one before remaining over: pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon) returns "10;" and "20;30;". pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon) returns "20;" and "30;". pSeq(pNumber, pSemicolon) returns "30;" and "".

PING 1.1.1.1 (1.1.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=52 time=389 ms 64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=52 time=68.7 ms 64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=52 time=47.1 ms 64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=52 time=48.6 ms 64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=52 time=85.8 ms 64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=52 time=84.8 ms 64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=52 time=87.4 ms --- 1.1.1.1 ping data --- 8 packets transmitted, 7 received, 12.5% packet loss, period 7008ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 47.129/115.880/388.750/112.515 ms

{ header: { targetIp: "1.1.1.1", resolvedIp: "1.1.1.1", icmpPayloadSize: 56, totalPacketSize: 84 }, packets: [ { byteCount: 64, from: "1.1.1.1", seq: 1, ttl: 52, time: 389 }, { byteCount: 64, from: "1.1.1.1", seq: 2, ttl: 52, time: 68.7 }, { byteCount: 64, from: "1.1.1.1", seq: 3, ttl: 52, time: 47.1 }, { byteCount: 64, from: "1.1.1.1", seq: 4, ttl: 52, time: 48.6 }, { byteCount: 64, from: "1.1.1.1", seq: 5, ttl: 52, time: 85.8 }, { byteCount: 64, from: "1.1.1.1", seq: 6, ttl: 52, time: 84.8 }, { byteCount: 64, from: "1.1.1.1", seq: 7, ttl: 52, time: 87.4 }, ], statistics: { packetsTransmitted: 8, packetsReceived: 7, packetLoss: 12.5, time: 7008, rtt: { min: 47.129, avg: 115.88, max: 388.75, mdev: 112.515 }, }, }