English Explanatory Dictionary

Backus-Naur form

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A formal notation for context-free grammars.

Pronunciation

/bækəs naʊə fɔːm/ /bækəs naʊɚ fɔɹm/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-Backus-Naur form.wav

Word forms

Backus-Naur form Backus-Naur forms

Etymology

From the names of computer science pioneers John Backus and Peter Naur. The notation was developed by Backus in 1959 (as Backus normal form) to describe computer languages, specifically ALGOL 58, and expanded and used by Naur in the ALGOL 60 report (the result of a January 1960 meeting). The name change to Backus-Naur form was at the suggestion of Donald Knuth.

Synonyms

Backus normal form BNF

Related words

Chomsky normal form metasyntax

Derived words

augmented Backus-Naur form extended Backus-Naur form
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