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Automatic correction of syntax-errors in programming languages

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Summary

A formal model for automatic error-correction is presented. It considers clusters of errors, using a local context to determine the corrections. The process can be embedded in left-to-right recognizers. The recognizer is used for standard syntax checking. When an error is detected, an error correction mechanism is activated which, by a limited backward then forward move, determines the possible corrections. An important aspect of this process is that it does not slow down the parsing of correct programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département Informatique de Gestion, Centre d'Enseignement Supérieur des Affaires, F-78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France

    J. -P. Lévy

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  1. J. -P. Lévy
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Additional information

Work done mainly at Cornell University, Department of Computer Science, Ithaca NY 14850. Partially supported by the National Science Foundation under grant GJ-28176.

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Lévy, J.P. Automatic correction of syntax-errors in programming languages. Acta Informatica 4, 271–292 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288730

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