context-free

Said of a grammar where the syntax of each constituent is independent of the symbols occuring before and after it in a sentence. Parsers for such grammars are simpler than those for context-dependent grammars because the parser need only know the current symbol.

Nearby terms:
context « context clash « COntext Dependent Information Language « context-free » context-sensitive menu » context switch » Contextually Communicating Sequential Processes