parsica-php/parsica

The easiest way to build robust parsers in PHP.

0.8.3 2025-07-09 08:39 UTC

Requires

• php: ^7.4 || ^8.0
• ext-mbstring: *

Requires (Dev)

• ext-json: *
• mathiasverraes/uptodocs: dev-main
• phpbench/phpbench: ^1.0.1
• phpunit/phpunit: ^9.0
• psr/event-dispatcher: ^1.0
• vimeo/psalm: ^4.30

MIT

• Mathias Verraes
• Toon Daelman

• parser
• parsing
• parser combinator
• parser-combinator

README

The easiest way to build robust parsers in PHP.

composer require parsica-php/parsica

Documentation & API: parsica-php.github.io

<?php
$parser = between(char('{'), char('}'), atLeastOne(alphaChar()));
$result = $parser->tryString("{Hello}");
echo $result->output(); // Hello

Quality

The code is entirely built with Test-Driven Development, and type-checked with Psalm. It is likely bug-free or very close to it. It is suitable for complex parsing requirements, and could even be used to build a programming language. However, it might not be performant enough if you use it at a high scale.

Project Maintenance & Support

Regrettably, the maintainer of this library (@turanct) has passed away in December 2021 due to cancer. The original author @mathiasverraes is now the maintainer again, and is doing occasional minor updates. If you'd like to contribute to this library, or if you wish to use this library for a project and need consulting, contact Mathias via mathias at verraes net. PR and issues submissions may not be monitored.

Development

After running composer install, run these to validate if everything is in working order:

composer run phpunit
composer run psalm
composer run uptodocs

# or all of them:

composer run test

As this library uses pure functional programming, it may be hard to wrap your head around if you're used to object-oriented or imperative styles. Our recommendation is to familiarize yourself with the basics of functional programming, for example by reading an intro to Haskell.