**ANTLR** (ANother Tool for Language Recognition) is a powerful parser generator for reading, processing, executing, or translating structured text or binary files. It's widely used to build languages, tools, and frameworks. From a grammar, ANTLR generates a parser that can build parse trees and also generates a listener interface (or visitor) that makes it easy to respond to the recognition of phrases of interest.
*For installation and other getting started information, see [Getting started with v4](https://theantlrguy.atlassian.net/wiki/display/ANTLR4/Getting+Started+with+ANTLR+v4). You can also read about [building ANTLR itself](https://github.com/antlr/antlr4/wiki/How-to-build-ANTLR-itself).*
Programmers run into parsing problems all the time. Whether it’s a data format like JSON, a network protocol like SMTP, a server configuration file for Apache, a PostScript/PDF file, or a simple spreadsheet macro language—ANTLR v4 and this book will demystify the process. ANTLR v4 has been rewritten from scratch to make it easier than ever to build parsers and the language applications built on top. This completely rewritten new edition of the bestselling Definitive ANTLR Reference shows you how to take advantage of these new features.
