In computer science, abstract syntax tree (AST) is a data structure representing something which has been parsed, often used as a compiler or interpreter's internal representation of a computer program while it is being optimized and from which code generation is performed. The range of all possible such structures is described by the abstract syntax.
Sometimes the code behind an abstract syntax trees (classes, for example), are generated by a parser generator, but many language engineers prefer to design and implement the tree themselves, as it expresses the fundamental structure of the language.
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This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.