🍺 BREW Explorer

← all formulae

bison

brew install bison v3.8.2 GPL-3.0-or-later keg-only

GNU parser generator that converts grammar definitions into C/C++/Java parsers.

Why you might care

Essential build dependency for many Unix tools and languages that need to parse domain-specific syntax. Bison is the POSIX standard parser generator; projects often require it at compile time. Keg-only because macOS provides an older system version, but Homebrew's version is more current and reliable for modern builds.

Categories

Alternatives

yacc antlr lemon
7.2k
30-day installs · #450
28.1k
90-day · #411
112.4k
365-day · #385

Links

Keg-only reason

:provided_by_macos

Blurb generated by claude-haiku-4-5 on today.

Raw metadata
{
  "aliases": [
    "bison@3.8"
  ],
  "alternatives": [
    "yacc",
    "antlr",
    "lemon"
  ],
  "build_dependencies": [],
  "categories": [
    "parser",
    "compiler",
    "build-system"
  ],
  "caveats": null,
  "conflicts_with": [],
  "dependencies": [],
  "deprecated": 0,
  "deprecation_reason": null,
  "desc": "Parser generator",
  "disable_reason": null,
  "disabled": 0,
  "enrichment_fetched_at": "2026-06-20T23:35:53+00:00",
  "first_seen": "2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00",
  "full_name": "bison",
  "github_default_branch": null,
  "github_last_commit_at": null,
  "github_readme_excerpt": null,
  "github_repo": null,
  "github_stars": null,
  "github_topics": [],
  "homepage": "https://www.gnu.org/software/bison/",
  "homepage_og_description": null,
  "homepage_og_image": null,
  "homepage_title": "Bison\n- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation",
  "installs_30d": 7203,
  "installs_365d": 112408,
  "installs_90d": 28062,
  "keg_only": 1,
  "keg_only_reason": ":provided_by_macos",
  "last_seen": "2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00",
  "license": "GPL-3.0-or-later",
  "llm_generated_at": "2026-06-20T23:44:57+00:00",
  "llm_model": "claude-haiku-4-5",
  "name": "bison",
  "oldnames": [],
  "one_liner": "GNU parser generator that converts grammar definitions into C/C++/Java parsers.",
  "optional_dependencies": [],
  "rank_30d": 450,
  "rank_365d": 385,
  "rank_90d": 411,
  "raw_hash": "ba7aab5283565332",
  "recommended_dependencies": [],
  "revision": 0,
  "ruby_source_path": "Formula/b/bison.rb",
  "tap": "homebrew/core",
  "test_dependencies": [],
  "uses_from_macos": [
    "m4"
  ],
  "version_head": null,
  "version_stable": "3.8.2",
  "versioned_formulae": [],
  "why_use_this": "Essential build dependency for many Unix tools and languages that need to parse domain-specific syntax. Bison is the POSIX standard parser generator; projects often require it at compile time. Keg-only because macOS provides an older system version, but Homebrew\u0027s version is more current and reliable for modern builds."
}