ParseIT: A Question-Answer based Tool to Learn Parsing Techniques

Parsing (also called syntax analysis) techniques cover a substantial portion of any undergraduate Compiler Design course. We present ParseIT, a tool to help students understand the parsing techniques through question-answering. ParseIT automates the generation of tutorial questions based on the Context Free Grammar provided by the student and generates feedback for the student solutions. The tool generates multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and fill in the blank type questions, and evaluates students' attempts. It provides hints for incorrect attempts, again in terms of MCQs. The hints questions are generated for any correct choice that is missed or any incorrect choice that is selected. Another interesting form of hint generated is an input string that helps the students identify incorrectly filled cells of a parsing table. We also present results of a user study conducted to measure the effectiveness of ParseIT.