FOLLOW Set in Syntax Analysis

FOLLOW set in compiler design are used to identify the terminal symbol immediately after a non-terminal in a given language. FOLLOW set is also used to avoid backtracking same as the FIRST set. The only difference is FOLLOW set works on vanishing non-terminal on the right-hand side so that decision-making gets easier for the compiler while parsing. 

Follow(X) to be the set of terminals that can appear immediately to the right of Non-Terminal X in some sentential form. 
Example: 

S ->Aa | Ac
A ->b  

      S                  S  
     /  \              /   \
    A    a            A     C  
    |                 |
    b                 b   

Here, FOLLOW (A) = {a, c}

Rules to compute FOLLOW set: 

1) FOLLOW(S) = { $ }   // where S is the starting Non-Terminal

2) If A -> pBq is a production, where p, B and q are any grammar symbols,
   then everything in FIRST(q)  except Є is in FOLLOW(B).

3) If A->pB is a production, then everything in FOLLOW(A) is in FOLLOW(B).

4) If A->pBq is a production and FIRST(q) contains Є, 
   then FOLLOW(B) contains { FIRST(q) – Є } U FOLLOW(A) 

Example 1:

Production Rules:
E -> TE’
E’ -> +T E’|Є
T -> F T’
T’ -> *F T’ | Є
F -> (E) | id

FIRST set
FIRST(E) = FIRST(T) = { ( , id }
FIRST(E’) = { +, Є }
FIRST(T) = FIRST(F) = { ( , id }
FIRST(T’) = { *, Є }
FIRST(F) = { ( , id }

FOLLOW Set
FOLLOW(E)  = { $ , ) }  // Note  ')' is there because of 5th rule
FOLLOW(E’) = FOLLOW(E) = {  $, ) }  // See 1st production rule
FOLLOW(T)  = { FIRST(E’) – Є } U FOLLOW(E’) U FOLLOW(E) = { + , $ , ) }
FOLLOW(T’) = FOLLOW(T) =      { + , $ , ) }
FOLLOW(F)  = { FIRST(T’) –  Є } U FOLLOW(T’) U FOLLOW(T) = { *, +, $, ) }

Example 2:

Production Rules:
S -> aBDh
B -> cC
C -> bC | Є
D -> EF
E -> g | Є
F -> f | Є

FIRST set
FIRST(S) = { a }
FIRST(B) = { c }
FIRST(C) = { b , Є }
FIRST(D) = FIRST(E) U FIRST(F) = { g, f, Є }
FIRST(E) = { g , Є }
FIRST(F) = { f , Є }

FOLLOW Set
FOLLOW(S) = { $ } 
FOLLOW(B) = { FIRST(D) – Є } U FIRST(h) = { g , f , h }
FOLLOW(C) = FOLLOW(B) = { g , f , h }
FOLLOW(D) = FIRST(h) = { h }
FOLLOW(E) = { FIRST(F) – Є } U FOLLOW(D) = { f , h }
FOLLOW(F) = FOLLOW(D) = { h } 

Example 3:

Production Rules:
S -> ACB|Cbb|Ba
A -> da|BC
B-> g|Є
C-> h| Є

FIRST set
FIRST(S) = FIRST(A) U FIRST(B) U FIRST(C) = { d, g, h, Є, b, a}
FIRST(A) = { d } U {FIRST(B)-Є} U FIRST(C) = { d, g, h, Є }
FIRST(B) = { g, Є }
FIRST(C) = { h, Є }

FOLLOW Set
FOLLOW(S) = { $ }
FOLLOW(A)  = { h, g, $ }
FOLLOW(B) = { a, $, h, g }
FOLLOW(C) = { b, g, $, h }

Note:

1. Є as a FOLLOW doesn’t mean anything (Є is an empty string).
2. $ is called end-marker, which represents the end of the input string, hence used while parsing to indicate that the input string has been completely processed.
3. The grammar used above is Context-Free Grammar (CFG). The syntax of a programming language can be specified using CFG.
4. CFG is of the form A -> B, where A is a single Non-Terminal, and B can be a set of grammar symbols ( i.e. Terminals as well as Non-Terminals)