tokenspecific

Tokenspecific is a concept used in compiler design and text processing to describe the metadata attached to individual tokens after lexical analysis. A token is the smallest unit of meaning in a stream of text, such as a keyword, an identifier, a number, or an operator. Token-specific data includes the token's type, its literal value, and its location in the source (line number, column). Additional attributes may include the token's length, its original text, and contextual flags that influence parsing or transformation.

By carrying token-specific information through the parsing stage, tools can produce precise error messages, support incremental parsing, and enable features like syntax highlighting and refactoring in integrated development environments.

In many languages, tokens are represented as structured records or objects with fields for type, value, and position. Some implementations separate token data from the source string, keeping a compact token kind with an index into a separate table; others attach metadata directly to the token object. Token-specific design can influence memory usage and parsing performance, especially for large codebases or streaming input.

Examples include tokens such as IDENTIFIER(foo) at line 3, column 15; NUMBER(42) at line 3, column 18.

See also lexical analysis, tokenization, parser, position tracking, syntax highlighting, abstract syntax tree.

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