diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index ca79430455d18fd0103d1a47d64e0aee61fc9008..70f453b98b1216b4a722cd09d0bcc72b510fede5 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-CFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config --cflags glib-2.0) -std=c99
+CFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config --cflags glib-2.0) -std=gnu99
 LDFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config --libs glib-2.0)
 CC := gcc
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 69a3e2ef4ded249f6d2249fa22cba241dfea40c1..e9f76f2b165ea8340db0317bed306eeeab278455 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 -include ../common.mk
 
 OUTPUTS := bitreader.o \
+	   hammer.o \
 	   libhammer.a \
 	   test_suite
 
diff --git a/src/hammer.c b/src/hammer.c
index 260bd3971c7fc39b0684fac00e2599d9d5930d3c..b067186757e426dece1876d5375da67193606e8e 100644
--- a/src/hammer.c
+++ b/src/hammer.c
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
  */
 
 #include "hammer.h"
+#include "internal.h"
+#include <assert.h>
 #include <string.h>
 /* TODO(thequux): rewrite to follow new parse_state_t layout
 parse_state_t* from(parse_state_t *ps, const size_t index) {
@@ -84,16 +86,196 @@ int put_cached(parse_state_t *ps, const parser_t *p, parse_result_t *cached) {
   }
 }
 
-const parser_t* token(const uint8_t *s) { return NULL; }
-const parser_t* ch(const uint8_t c) { return NULL; }
-const parser_t* range(const uint8_t lower, const uint8_t upper) { return NULL; }
+parse_result_t* do_parse(const parser_t* parser, parse_state_t *state);
+
+/* Helper function, since these lines appear in every parser */
+inline parse_result_t* make_result(GSequence *ast) {
+  parse_result_t *ret = g_new(parse_result_t, 1);
+  ret->ast = ast;
+  return ret;
+}
+
+typedef struct {
+  uint8_t *str;
+  uint8_t len;
+} token_t;
+
+static parse_result_t* parse_token(void *env, parse_state_t *state) {
+  token_t *t = (token_t*)env;
+  for (int i=0; i<t->len; ++i) {
+    uint8_t chr = (uint8_t)read_bits(&state->input_stream, 8, false);
+    if (t->str[i] != chr) {
+      return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+  parsed_token_t *tok = g_new(parsed_token_t, 1);
+  tok->token = t->str; tok->len = t->len;
+  GSequence *ast = g_sequence_new(NULL);
+  g_sequence_append(ast, tok);
+  return make_result(ast);
+}
+
+const parser_t* token(const uint8_t *str, const size_t len) { 
+  token_t *t = g_new(token_t, 1);
+  t->str = (uint8_t*)str, t->len = len;
+  parser_t *ret = g_new(parser_t, 1);
+  ret->fn = parse_token; ret->env = t;
+  return (const parser_t*)ret;
+}
+
+static parse_result_t* parse_ch(void* env, parse_state_t *state) {
+  uint8_t c = (uint8_t)env;
+  uint8_t r = (uint8_t)read_bits(&state->input_stream, 8, false);
+  if (c == r) {
+    parsed_token_t *tok = g_new(parsed_token_t, 1);    
+    tok->token = GUINT_TO_POINTER(c); tok->len = 1;
+    GSequence *ast = g_sequence_new(NULL);
+    g_sequence_append(ast, tok);
+    return make_result(ast);
+  } else {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+}
+
+const parser_t* ch(const uint8_t c) {  
+  parser_t *ret = g_new(parser_t, 1);
+  ret->fn = parse_ch; ret->env = (void*)c;
+  return (const parser_t*)ret;
+}
+
+typedef struct {
+  uint8_t lower;
+  uint8_t upper;
+} range_t;
+
+static parse_result_t* parse_range(void* env, parse_state_t *state) {
+  range_t *range = (range_t*)env;
+  uint8_t r = (uint8_t)read_bits(&state->input_stream, 8, false);
+  if (range->lower <= r && range->upper >= r) {
+    parsed_token_t *tok = g_new(parsed_token_t, 1);
+    tok->token = GUINT_TO_POINTER(r); tok->len = 1;
+    GSequence *ast = g_sequence_new(NULL);
+    g_sequence_append(ast, tok);
+    return make_result(ast);
+  } else {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+}
+
+const parser_t* range(const uint8_t lower, const uint8_t upper) { 
+  range_t *r = g_new(range_t, 1);
+  r->lower = lower; r->upper = upper;
+  parser_t *ret = g_new(parser_t, 1);
+  ret->fn = parse_range; ret->env = (void*)r;
+  return (const parser_t*)ret;
+}
 const parser_t* whitespace(const parser_t* p) { return NULL; }
 //const parser_t* action(const parser_t* p, /* fptr to action on AST */) { return NULL; }
-const parser_t* join_action(const parser_t* p, const uint8_t *sep) { return NULL; }
-const parser_t* left_faction_action(const parser_t* p) { return NULL; }
-const parser_t* negate(const parser_t* p) { return NULL; }
-const parser_t* end_p() { return NULL; }
-const parser_t* nothing_p() { return NULL; }
+
+typedef struct {
+  parser_t *parser;
+  uint8_t *sep;
+  size_t len;
+} join_t;
+
+void join_collect(gpointer tok, gpointer ret) {
+  size_t sz = GPOINTER_TO_SIZE(ret);
+  sz += ((parsed_token_t*)tok)->len;
+  ret = GSIZE_TO_POINTER(sz);
+}
+
+static parse_result_t* parse_join(void *env, parse_state_t *state) {
+  join_t *j = (join_t*)env;
+  parse_result_t *result = do_parse(j->parser, state);
+  size_t num_tokens = g_sequence_get_length((GSequence*)result->ast);
+  if (0 < num_tokens) {
+    gpointer sz = GSIZE_TO_POINTER(0);
+    // aggregate length of tokens in AST
+    g_sequence_foreach((GSequence*)result->ast, join_collect, sz);
+    // plus aggregate length of all separators
+    size_t ret_len = GPOINTER_TO_SIZE(sz) + (num_tokens - 1) * j->len;
+    gpointer ret_str = g_malloc(ret_len);
+    // first the first token ...
+    GSequenceIter *it = g_sequence_get_begin_iter((GSequence*)result->ast);
+    parsed_token_t *tok = g_sequence_get(it);
+    memcpy(ret_str, tok->token, tok->len);
+    ret_str += tok->len;
+    // if there was only one token, don't enter the while loop
+    it = g_sequence_iter_next(it);
+    while (!g_sequence_iter_is_end(it)) {
+      // add a separator
+      memcpy(ret_str, j->sep, j->len);
+      ret_str += j->len;
+      // then the next token
+      tok = g_sequence_get(it);
+      memcpy(ret_str, tok->token, tok->len);
+      // finally, advance the pointer and the iterator
+      ret_str += tok->len;
+      it = g_sequence_iter_next(it);
+    }
+    // reset the return pointer and construct the return parse_result_t
+    ret_str -= ret_len;
+    parsed_token_t *ret_tok = g_new(parsed_token_t, 1);
+    ret_tok->token = ret_str; ret_tok->len = ret_len;
+    GSequence *ast = g_sequence_new(NULL);
+    g_sequence_append(ast, tok);
+    return make_result(ast);
+  } else {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+}
+
+const parser_t* join_action(const parser_t* p, const uint8_t *sep, const size_t len) {  
+  join_t *j = g_new(join_t, 1);
+  j->parser = (parser_t*)p; j->sep = (uint8_t*)sep; j->len = len;
+  parser_t *ret = g_new(parser_t, 1);
+  ret->fn = parse_join; ret->env = (void*)j;
+  return (const parser_t*)ret;
+}
+
+const parser_t* left_factor_action(const parser_t* p) { return NULL; }
+
+static parse_result_t* parse_negate(void *env, parse_state_t *state) {
+  parser_t *p = (parser_t*)env;
+  parse_result_t *result = do_parse(p, state);
+  if (NULL == result) {
+    uint8_t r = (uint8_t)read_bits(&state->input_stream, 8, false);
+    parsed_token_t *tok = g_new(parsed_token_t, 1);    
+    tok->token = GUINT_TO_POINTER(r); tok->len = 1;
+    GSequence *ast = g_sequence_new(NULL);
+    g_sequence_append(ast, tok);
+    return make_result(ast);    
+  } else {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+}
+
+const parser_t* negate(const parser_t* p) { 
+  assert(parse_ch == p->fn || parse_range == p->fn);
+  parser_t *ret = g_new(parser_t, 1);
+  ret->fn = parse_negate; ret->env = (void*)p;
+  return (const parser_t*)ret;
+}
+
+static parse_result_t* parse_end(void *env, parse_state_t *state) {
+  if (state->input_stream.index == state->input_stream.length) {
+    parse_result_t *ret = g_new(parse_result_t, 1);
+    ret->ast = NULL;
+    return ret;
+  } else {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+}
+
+const parser_t* end_p() { 
+  parser_t *ret = g_new(parser_t, 1);
+  ret->fn = parse_end; ret->env = NULL;
+  return (const parser_t*)ret;
+}
+const parser_t* nothing_p() { 
+  // not a mistake, this parser always fails
+  return NULL; 
+}
 const parser_t* sequence(const parser_t* p_array[]) { return NULL; }
 const parser_t* choice(const parser_t* p_array[]) { return NULL; }
 const parser_t* butnot(const parser_t* p1, const parser_t* p2) { return NULL; }
diff --git a/src/hammer.h b/src/hammer.h
index 1a06ffd920d9b9c62c2767a90d77db33adc394cc..4f652a436f98ece2f9b8a352a142e58013029c4c 100644
--- a/src/hammer.h
+++ b/src/hammer.h
@@ -54,28 +54,49 @@ typedef struct parse_state {
   input_stream_t input_stream;
 } parse_state_t;
 
+typedef struct parsed_token {
+  const uint8_t *token;
+  size_t len;
+} parsed_token_t;
+
 typedef struct parse_result {
-  const uint8_t *remaining;
-  const uint8_t *matched;
   const GSequence *ast;
 } parse_result_t;
 
 typedef struct parser {
-  parse_result_t* (*fn)(void* env, parse_state_t *state);
-  void* env;
+  parse_result_t* (*fn)(void *env, parse_state_t *state);
+  void *env;
 } parser_t;
 
 parse_result_t* parse(const parser_t* parser, const uint8_t* input);
 
-const parser_t* token(const uint8_t *s);
+/* Given a string, returns a parser that parses that string value. */
+const parser_t* token(const uint8_t *str, const size_t len);
+
+/* Given a single character, returns a parser that parses that character. */
 const parser_t* ch(const uint8_t c);
+
+/* Given two single-character bounds, lower and upper, returns a parser that parses a single character within the range [lower, upper] (inclusive). */
 const parser_t* range(const uint8_t lower, const uint8_t upper);
+
+/* Given another parser, p, returns a parser that skips any whitespace and then applies p. */
 const parser_t* whitespace(const parser_t* p);
+
+/* Given another parser, p, and a function f, returns a parser that applies p, then applies f to everything in the AST of p's result. */
 //const parser_t* action(const parser_t* p, /* fptr to action on AST */);
-const parser_t* join_action(const parser_t* p, const uint8_t *sep);
-const parser_t* left_faction_action(const parser_t* p);
+
+/* Given another parser, p, and a separator, sep, returns a parser that applies p, then joins everything in the AST of p's result with sep. For example, if the AST of p's result is {"dog", "cat", "hedgehog"} and sep is "|", the AST of this parser's result will be {"dog|cat|hedgehog"}. */
+const parser_t* join_action(const parser_t* p, const uint8_t *sep, const size_t len);
+
+const parser_t* left_factor_action(const parser_t* p);
+
+/* Given a single-character parser, p, returns a single-character parser that will parse any character *other* than the character p would parse. */
 const parser_t* negate(const parser_t* p);
+
+/* A no-argument parser that succeeds if there is no more input to parse. */
 const parser_t* end_p();
+
+/* This parser always fails. */
 const parser_t* nothing_p();
 const parser_t* sequence(const parser_t* p_array[]);
 const parser_t* choice(const parser_t* p_array[]);