I have _absolutely_ regretted writing a parser by hand. Once I replaced it with an ANTLR grammar and a comparatively-trivial bit of glue, my thrift parser beca

I have _absolutely_ regretted writing a parser by hand. Once I replaced it with an ANTLR grammar and a comparatively-trivial bit of glue, my thrift parser became not only easier to refactor but more reliable. My hand-written recursive descent parser was a perennial source of bugs, where ANTLR has yielded almost none. Some fiddly things I was doing with comments became much easier, if not effortless. I highly, HIGHLY recommend at least starting with a compiler-generator like ANTLR. The "activation cost" of your project will be much lower, and you may find that you never actually _need_ the level of control you give up.