Cypher Parser Modes

Environment Variable: NORNICDB_PARSER
Options: nornic (default) | antlr

NornicDB supports two Cypher parser implementations that can be switched at runtime.

Architecture

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flowchart TB
    subgraph ENV["🔧 Configuration"]
        direction LR
        E1["NORNICDB_PARSER"]
        E2["nornic | antlr"]
    end

    Q[/"Cypher Query"/]
    
    Q --> VALIDATE["validateSyntax()"]
    
    VALIDATE --> |"NORNICDB_PARSER=nornic"| NORNIC
    VALIDATE --> |"NORNICDB_PARSER=antlr"| ANTLR
    
    subgraph NORNIC["⚡ Nornic Parser (Default)"]
        direction TB
        N1["String-based validation"]
        N2["Regex + indexOf"]
        N3["Direct execution"]
        N1 --> N2 --> N3
    end
    
    subgraph ANTLR["🌳 ANTLR Parser"]
        direction TB
        A1["ANTLR Lexer"]
        A2["ANTLR Parser"]
        A3["Full Parse Tree"]
        A4["Syntax Validation"]
        A1 --> A2 --> A3 --> A4
    end
    
    NORNIC --> EXEC["Execute Query"]
    ANTLR --> EXEC
    EXEC --> RESULT[("Result")]
    
    style ENV fill:#21262d,stroke:#30363d
    style NORNIC fill:#161b22,stroke:#238636
    style ANTLR fill:#161b22,stroke:#a371f7
    style RESULT fill:#238636,stroke:#3fb950

Real-World Benchmarks (Northwind Database)

Query	⚡ Nornic	🌳 ANTLR	Slowdown
Count all nodes	3,272 hz	45 hz	73x
Count all relationships	3,693 hz	50 hz	74x
Find customer by ID	4,213 hz	2,153 hz	2x
Products supplied by supplier	4,023 hz	53 hz	76x
Supplier→Category traversal	3,225 hz	22 hz	147x
Products with/without orders	3,881 hz	0.82 hz	4,753x
Create/delete relationship	3,974 hz	62 hz	64x

Total test suite time:

Mode	Time
⚡ Nornic	17.5s
🌳 ANTLR	35.3s (2x slower)

Mode Comparison

Feature	⚡ Nornic (Default)	🌳 ANTLR
Throughput	3,000-4,200 ops/sec	0.8-2,100 ops/sec
Worst Case	-	4,753x slower
Error Messages	Basic	Detailed (line/column)
Syntax Validation	Lenient	Strict OpenCypher
Memory Usage	Lowest	Higher
Best For	Production	Development/Debugging

Configuration

# Production (default) - fastest
export NORNICDB_PARSER=nornic

# Development/Debugging - strict validation, better errors
export NORNICDB_PARSER=antlr

Programmatic Switching

import "github.com/orneryd/nornicdb/pkg/config"

// Check current parser
if config.IsNornicParser() {
    // Using fast Nornic parser
}

// Switch to ANTLR temporarily
cleanup := config.WithANTLRParser()
defer cleanup()
// ... queries use ANTLR parser here

// Direct set
config.SetParserType(config.ParserTypeANTLR)
config.SetParserType(config.ParserTypeNornic)

When to Use Each Parser

⚡ Nornic Parser (NORNICDB_PARSER=nornic) — Default

Use when:

• Production deployments
• Maximum performance is critical
• Simple, well-tested query patterns
• High-throughput workloads

Pros:

• Fastest execution — 3,000-4,200 ops/sec
• 💾 Lowest memory — No parse tree allocation
• 🔧 Battle-tested — Original implementation
• ⚡ Zero parsing overhead

Cons:

• 🔍 Basic error messages — No line/column info
• 📝 Lenient validation — May accept some invalid syntax
• 🐛 Harder to debug — No structured parse tree

---

🌳 ANTLR Parser (NORNICDB_PARSER=antlr)

Use when:

• Development and debugging
• Need detailed syntax error messages
• Strict OpenCypher compliance required
• Building query analysis tools

Pros:

• ✅ Strict validation — Full OpenCypher grammar
• 📍 Detailed errors — Line and column numbers
• 🌳 Full parse tree — For analysis/tooling
• 🛠️ Extensible — Easy to add new features

Cons:

• 🐢 Much slower — 50-5000x slower than Nornic
• 💾 Higher memory — Full parse tree allocation
• ⏱️ Not for production — Too slow for high-throughput

Error Message Comparison

Invalid query: MATCH (n RETURN n (missing closing paren)

Parser	Error Message
Nornic	syntax error: unbalanced parentheses
ANTLR	syntax error: line 1:9 no viable alternative at input 'MATCH (n RETURN'

Make Targets

# Run entire test suite with ANTLR parser
make antlr-test

# Run cypher tests with both parsers
make test-parsers

# Regenerate ANTLR parser from grammar
make antlr-generate

Files

File	Description
pkg/config/feature_flags.go	Parser type configuration
pkg/cypher/executor.go	validateSyntax() dispatcher
pkg/cypher/antlr/	ANTLR parser implementation
pkg/cypher/antlr/*.g4	ANTLR grammar files

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TL;DR: Use nornic (default) for production. Use antlr only for development/debugging when you need detailed error messages.