While in most cases it's probably a better option, I think that in this case there wasn't time to do that. I would probably explore the option to still use the parser, and have it generate an AST first, and from there go pretty much in the direction of the author.
Part of the problem is being given an assignment two weeks before a ship date. I know people do stuff like that all the time but that's hardly an excuse (we do terrible things to each other all the time so it's okay?)
The author is already screwed before he even has a chance to start.
