Final answer:
The maximal munch scanning algorithm is a method used in compiler design and lexical analysis to tokenize input strings and maximize the length of valid tokens.
Step-by-step explanation:
Maximal Munch Scanning Algorithm is a method used in compiler design and lexical analysis to tokenize input strings. It is based on the principle of consuming as many characters as possible to form valid tokens. This algorithm scans the input stream from left to right, examining each character and determining whether it forms a valid token or not. If a valid token is found, it is added to the token stream, and the algorithm continues to the next character. If a character does not form a valid token, the algorithm backtracks and tries to combine more characters to create a valid token.
For example, consider the input string 'abcd'. The maximal munch scanning algorithm will first check if 'a' is a valid token, then 'ab', then 'abc', and finally 'abcd'. It picks the longest valid token at each step, maximizing the munch.