Writing a compiler for a DSL in python

Question

I am writing a game in python and have decided to create a DSL for the map data files. I know I could write my own parser with regex, but I am wondering if there are existing python tools which can do this more easily, like re2c which is used in the PHP engine.

Some extra info:

• Yes, I do need a DSL, and even if I didn't I still want the experience of building and using one in a project.

• The DSL contains only data (declarative?), it doesn't get "executed". Most lines look like:

  SOMETHING: !abc @123 #xyz/123

  I just need to read the tree of data.

Answer 1

I've always been impressed by pyparsing. The author, Paul McGuire, is active on the python list/comp.lang.python and has always been very helpful with any queries concerning it.