GSoC 2012 -- Elisp backend for Ragel

["Aurélien Aptel" <aurelien.aptel@gmail.com>]

Hi!

I'm currently studying Computer Science at Lyon 1, France and I was
interested in writing an elisp backend for ragel to use in org-mode
for the Google Summer of Code 2012.
I hope GNU will have enough slot for this project because it's the one
I would really like doing :)

Here's a draft of my application. I was hoping someone (mentors?)
could help me improve it (suggestion, typo, correction). Keep in mind
English is not my native language.

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Name: Aurélien Aptel
E-mail: aurelien.aptel@gmail.com
Project name: org-mode -- Implement an Elisp backend for Ragel
Summary:
The objective of the project is to implement an Elisp backend for
Ragel (a "parser generator") in order to replace the slow, complex and
error-prone parsing code in org-mode with fast code generated by Ragel
from a clean and readable grammar.

Benefits:
* Clean, readable and reusable grammar for org-mode files
* A new (fast) alternative for parsing in Elisp ; can be relevant for
a lot of Elisp projects
* New language backend for Ragel

Deliverables:
* New language backend for Ragel
* New improved parsing code for org-mode
* A grammar for org-mode files

Plan:

Communication:
I can be reached via email or irc. I plan on using a DVCS like
Mercurial and publish
my commits on a public hosting service such as bitbucket.org so
everyone can follow my progress. I will also post to the org-mode ML
to present my progress after each meaningful steps.

Qualification:

* I've already contributed to emacs.

I've added cross-platform "underwave" support, hopefully included in
future releases.

More info and patch at:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnu-emacs/2012-02/msg00238.html
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2012-01/msg00844.html

* I'm familiar with FSM concepts

I've had classes on languages and automata which involved the
implementation of several algorithms.

* I use emacs every day :)

I read and sometime post on various emacs MLs and I keep up with
Emacs-related news on the web.
I'm familiar with Lisp-like language. I wrote an interpreter (in C)
for my own Lisp-language with the help of SICP as a personnal project.
I have enough Elisp knowledge to automate some of my tasks but I'm no
expert at it.
I have used org-mode few times but I can't say I'm a frequent user.
I'm a C hacker at heart but I have an acceptable knowledge of C++ :)
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