I would go further and say don't write a parser at first, unless what's novel and interesting about your language is it's syntax. Use the configuration language of your choice (like TOML or YAML) to write your ASTs directly, so you can focus on writing the runtime/backend and playing with the semantics of your language (where the novelty probably is).
When you feel it's the appropriate time, you can circle back to the frontend and implement a parser. But if you're writing a DSL, a config language may well be good enough. An additional bonus is that your config language syntax will make it easier to write certain unit tests.
I've had several experiments in writing a new language, and the first few times I got completely bogged down in parsing. I learned a lot about parsing, which is great, but it made it difficult for me to get at the meat of a project.
I would go further and say don't write a parser at first, unless what's novel and interesting about your language is it's syntax. Use the configuration language of your choice (like TOML or YAML) to write your ASTs directly, so you can focus on writing the runtime/backend and playing with the semantics of your language (where the novelty probably is).
When you feel it's the appropriate time, you can circle back to the frontend and implement a parser. But if you're writing a DSL, a config language may well be good enough. An additional bonus is that your config language syntax will make it easier to write certain unit tests.
I've had several experiments in writing a new language, and the first few times I got completely bogged down in parsing. I learned a lot about parsing, which is great, but it made it difficult for me to get at the meat of a project.