antlr/antlr4

Analysis updated 2026-06-21

★ 18,874JavaAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5Setup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((ANTLR4))
    What It Does
      Reads grammar rules
      Generates parsers
      Builds parse trees
    Use Cases
      Custom languages
      Compilers
      Config file parsers
      Code analysis
    Output Languages
      Java Python Go
      JavaScript TypeScript
      C# Swift C++
    Getting Started
      Write grammar file
      Run ANTLR tool
      Walk parse tree

mindmap root((ANTLR4)) What It Does Reads grammar rules Generates parsers Builds parse trees Use Cases Custom languages Compilers Config file parsers Code analysis Output Languages Java Python Go JavaScript TypeScript C# Swift C++ Getting Started Write grammar file Run ANTLR tool Walk parse tree

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Create a custom scripting or expression language for your application that users can write rules or formulas in.

USE CASE 2

Build a compiler or interpreter for a domain-specific language used in enterprise query or automation systems.

USE CASE 3

Parse a proprietary configuration file format or legacy data format that no standard parser handles.

USE CASE 4

Write a code analysis or linting tool that reads and understands source code structure programmatically.

What is it built with?

JavaPythonC#GoJavaScriptTypeScriptC++Swift

How does it compare?

	antlr/antlr4	baseflow/photoview	yunaiv/yudao-cloud
Stars	18,874	18,834	18,927
Language	Java	Java	Java
Setup difficulty	moderate	easy	hard
Complexity	4/5	1/5	4/5
Audience	developer	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 1h+

Requires Java 11+ to run the ANTLR tool itself, the generated parsers can target 10 other languages including Python, Go, and JavaScript.

In plain English

ANTLR (ANother Tool for Language Recognition) is a tool that helps developers create their own programming languages, configuration file formats, or any other structured text that a computer needs to read and understand. The core idea is this: you write a "grammar", a set of rules describing what valid input looks like, and ANTLR automatically generates the code that can read and interpret that input. This generated code is called a parser. Think of it like teaching a computer to read a new language from a rulebook. Once the parser exists, it builds a tree-like structure (a "parse tree") representing the meaning of what was read, and ANTLR also generates helper interfaces that let you walk through that tree and react to specific parts. You would use ANTLR when building a custom scripting language for your app, reading a proprietary data format, writing a compiler or interpreter, or processing complex configuration files. It powers real-world tools like query languages, code analysis tools, and domain-specific languages used in enterprise systems. ANTLR 4 supports 10 target languages, meaning the parser it generates can be written in Java, Python 3, C#, Go, JavaScript, TypeScript, C++, Swift, Dart, or PHP. The tool itself is written in Java and requires Java 11 or higher to run.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I want to create a simple expression language in Python using ANTLR4 that supports +, -, *, / and parentheses, show me the grammar file and how to generate and run the parser.

Prompt 2

How do I define an ANTLR4 grammar for a custom configuration file format and generate a JavaScript parser from it?

Prompt 3

Show me how to write an ANTLR4 listener in Java that walks the parse tree and extracts all function definitions from my grammar.

Prompt 4

How do I set up ANTLR4 in a Gradle project to auto-generate parser source files during the build?

Prompt 5

Generate a Go parser using ANTLR4 that reads a simple SQL-like query such as SELECT name FROM users WHERE age > 30.

Frequently asked questions

What is antlr4?

A tool that reads grammar rules you write and automatically generates code that can parse custom languages, file formats, or query syntaxes, saving weeks of hand-written parsing work.

What language is antlr4 written in?

Mainly Java. The stack also includes Java, Python, C#.

How hard is antlr4 to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is antlr4 for?

Mainly developer.

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