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Prerequisites

The Expresiones compiler requires Python 3.6+ and ANTLR4 to be installed on your system.
1

Install ANTLR4

Download and install ANTLR4 from the official website:
cd /usr/local/lib
sudo curl -O https://www.antlr.org/download/antlr-4.13.1-complete.jar
Add ANTLR to your CLASSPATH:
export CLASSPATH=".:/usr/local/lib/antlr-4.13.1-complete.jar:$CLASSPATH"
alias antlr4='java -jar /usr/local/lib/antlr-4.13.1-complete.jar'
Add these lines to your .bashrc or .zshrc to make the changes permanent.
2

Install Python Dependencies

Install the ANTLR4 Python runtime:
pip install antlr4-python3-runtime
The compiler also uses tkinter for file selection dialogs. On most systems, tkinter comes pre-installed with Python. If you need to install it:
sudo apt-get install python3-tk
3

Generate Parser and Lexer

Navigate to your source directory and generate the parser files from the grammar:
cd workspace/source
antlr4 -Dlanguage=Python3 -visitor Expresiones.g
This will generate the following files:
  • ExpresionesLexer.py
  • ExpresionesParser.py
  • ExpresionesVisitor.py
  • Expresiones.tokens
You must regenerate these files whenever you modify the grammar file (Expresiones.g).
4

Verify Installation

Verify that all components are installed correctly:
python -c "from antlr4 import *; print('ANTLR4 runtime OK')"
python -c "import tkinter; print('tkinter OK')"
Both commands should execute without errors.

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Project Structure

Your workspace should have the following structure: 
workspace/
└── source/
    ├── Expresiones.g          # Grammar definition
    ├── Prueba.py              # Main compiler entry point
    ├── Visitor.py             # Visitor implementation
    ├── ExpresionesLexer.py    # Generated lexer
    ├── ExpresionesParser.py   # Generated parser
    └── ExpresionesVisitor.py  # Generated visitor base

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Troubleshooting

If you encounter ImportError: No module named antlr4, make sure you’ve installed the correct runtime version that matches your ANTLR4 version.

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Common Issues

ANTLR4 not found
  • Verify CLASSPATH is set correctly
  • Check that the ANTLR jar file exists at the specified path
Parser generation fails
  • Ensure you’re using ANTLR4 (not ANTLR3)
  • Check that the grammar file has no syntax errors
tkinter import error
  • Install the python3-tk package for your distribution
  • On macOS, you may need to reinstall Python from python.org

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Next Steps

Now that you have everything installed, proceed to the Quickstart guide to compile your first Expresiones program.

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