diff --git a/gg/lexer.go b/gg/lexer.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dea3f8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gg/lexer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,284 @@
+package gg
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+	"unicode"
+)
+
+// LexerError is returned by Lexer when an unexpected error occurs parsing a
+// stream of LexerTokens.
+type LexerError struct {
+	Err      error
+	Row, Col int
+}
+
+func (e *LexerError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%d: %d: %s", e.Col, e.Row, e.Err.Error())
+}
+
+func (e *LexerError) Unwrap() error {
+	return e.Err
+}
+
+// LexerTokenKind enumerates the different kinds of LexerToken there can be.
+type LexerTokenKind string
+
+// Enumeration of LexerTokenKinds.
+const (
+	LexerTokenKindName        LexerTokenKind = "name"
+	LexerTokenKindNumber      LexerTokenKind = "number"
+	LexerTokenKindPunctuation LexerTokenKind = "punctuation"
+)
+
+// LexerToken describes a lexigraphical token which is used when deserializing
+// Graphs.
+type LexerToken struct {
+	Kind  LexerTokenKind
+	Value string // never empty string
+
+	Row, Col int
+}
+
+// Lexer is used to parse a string stream into a sequence of tokens which can
+// then be parsed by a Parser.
+type Lexer interface {
+
+	// Next will return a LexerToken or a LexerError. io.EOF (wrapped in a
+	// LexerError) is returned if the stream being read from is finished.
+	Next() (LexerToken, error)
+}
+
+type lexer struct {
+	r             *bufio.Reader
+	stringBuilder *strings.Builder
+	err           *LexerError
+
+	// these fields are only needed to keep track of the current "cursor"
+	// position when reading.
+	lastRow, lastCol int
+	prevRune         rune
+}
+
+// NewLexer wraps the io.Reader in a Lexer, which will read the io.Reader as a
+// sequence of utf-8 characters and parse it into a sequence of LexerTokens.
+func NewLexer(r io.Reader) Lexer {
+	return &lexer{
+		r:             bufio.NewReader(r),
+		lastRow:       0,
+		lastCol:       -1,
+		stringBuilder: new(strings.Builder),
+	}
+}
+
+// nextRowCol returns the row and column number which the next rune in the
+// stream would be at.
+func (l *lexer) nextRowCol() (int, int) {
+
+	if l.prevRune == '\n' {
+		return l.lastRow + 1, 0
+	}
+
+	return l.lastRow, l.lastCol + 1
+}
+
+func (l *lexer) fmtErr(err error) *LexerError {
+
+	row, col := l.nextRowCol()
+
+	return &LexerError{
+		Err: err,
+		Row: row,
+		Col: col,
+	}
+}
+
+func (l *lexer) fmtErrf(str string, args ...interface{}) *LexerError {
+	return l.fmtErr(fmt.Errorf(str, args...))
+}
+
+// discardRune must _always_ be called only after peekRune.
+func (l *lexer) discardRune() {
+
+	r, _, err := l.r.ReadRune()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	l.lastRow, l.lastCol = l.nextRowCol()
+	l.prevRune = r
+}
+
+func (l *lexer) peekRune() (rune, error) {
+
+	r, _, err := l.r.ReadRune()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return '0', err
+
+	} else if err := l.r.UnreadRune(); err != nil {
+
+		// since the most recent operation on the bufio.Reader was a ReadRune,
+		// UnreadRune should never return an error
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// readWhile reads runes until the given predicate returns false, and returns a
+// LexerToken of the given kind whose Value is comprised of all runes which
+// returned true.
+//
+// If an error is encountered then both the token (or what's been parsed of it
+// so far) and the error are returned.
+func (l *lexer) readWhile(
+	kind LexerTokenKind, pred func(rune) bool,
+) (
+	LexerToken, *LexerError,
+) {
+
+	row, col := l.nextRowCol()
+
+	l.stringBuilder.Reset()
+
+	var lexErr *LexerError
+
+	for {
+
+		r, err := l.peekRune()
+
+		if err != nil {
+			lexErr = l.fmtErrf("peeking next character: %w", err)
+			break
+
+		} else if !pred(r) {
+			break
+		}
+
+		l.stringBuilder.WriteRune(r)
+
+		l.discardRune()
+	}
+
+	return LexerToken{
+		Kind:  kind,
+		Value: l.stringBuilder.String(),
+		Row:   row, Col: col,
+	}, lexErr
+}
+
+// we only support base-10 integers at the moment.
+func isNumber(r rune) bool {
+	return r == '-' || ('0' <= r && r <= '9')
+}
+
+// next can return a token, an error, or both. If an error is returned then no
+// further calls to next should occur.
+func (l *lexer) next() (LexerToken, *LexerError) {
+
+	for {
+
+		r, err := l.peekRune()
+
+		if err != nil {
+			return LexerToken{}, l.fmtErrf("peeking next character: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		switch {
+
+		case r == '*': // comment
+
+			// comments are everything up until a newline
+			_, err := l.readWhile("", func(r rune) bool {
+				return r != '\n'
+			})
+
+			if err != nil {
+				return LexerToken{}, err
+			}
+
+			// terminating newline is deliberately not discarded. Loop and find
+			// the next token (which will be that newline).
+
+		case r == '\n':
+			// newlines are considered punctuation, not whitespace
+
+			l.discardRune()
+
+			return LexerToken{
+				Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+				Value: string(r),
+				Row:   l.lastRow,
+				Col:   l.lastCol,
+			}, nil
+
+		case r == '"' || r == '`':
+
+			// reserve double-quote and backtick for string parsing.
+			l.discardRune()
+			return LexerToken{}, l.fmtErrf("string parsing not yet implemented")
+
+		case unicode.IsLetter(r):
+			// letters denote the start of a name
+
+			return l.readWhile(LexerTokenKindName, func(r rune) bool {
+
+				if unicode.In(r, unicode.Letter, unicode.Number, unicode.Mark) {
+					return true
+				}
+
+				if r == '-' {
+					return true
+				}
+
+				return false
+			})
+
+		case isNumber(r):
+			return l.readWhile(LexerTokenKindNumber, isNumber)
+
+		case unicode.IsPunct(r) || unicode.IsSymbol(r):
+			// symbols are also considered punctuation
+
+			l.discardRune()
+
+			return LexerToken{
+				Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+				Value: string(r),
+				Row:   l.lastRow,
+				Col:   l.lastCol,
+			}, nil
+
+		case unicode.IsSpace(r):
+			l.discardRune()
+
+		default:
+			return LexerToken{}, l.fmtErrf("unexpected character %q", r)
+		}
+
+	}
+}
+
+func (l *lexer) Next() (LexerToken, error) {
+
+	if l.err != nil {
+		return LexerToken{}, l.err
+	}
+
+	tok, err := l.next()
+
+	if err != nil {
+
+		l.err = err
+
+		if tok.Kind == "" {
+			return LexerToken{}, l.err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return tok, nil
+}
diff --git a/gg/lexer_test.go b/gg/lexer_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19731f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gg/lexer_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+package gg
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+type mockReader struct {
+	body []byte
+	err  error
+}
+
+func (r *mockReader) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
+
+	n := copy(b, r.body)
+	r.body = r.body[n:]
+
+	if len(r.body) == 0 {
+		return n, r.err
+	}
+
+	return n, nil
+}
+
+func TestLexer(t *testing.T) {
+
+	expErr := errors.New("eof")
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		in  string
+		exp []LexerToken
+	}{
+		{in: "", exp: []LexerToken{}},
+		{in: "* fooo", exp: []LexerToken{}},
+		{
+			in: "*\n",
+			exp: []LexerToken{
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: "\n",
+					Row:   0, Col: 1,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			in: "foo\nbar\n\n",
+			exp: []LexerToken{
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "foo",
+					Row:   0, Col: 0,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: "\n",
+					Row:   0, Col: 3,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "bar",
+					Row:   1, Col: 0,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: "\n",
+					Row:   1, Col: 3,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: "\n",
+					Row:   2, Col: 0,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			in: "foo",
+			exp: []LexerToken{
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "foo",
+					Row:   0, Col: 0,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			in: "foo bar f-o f0O Foo",
+			exp: []LexerToken{
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "foo",
+					Row:   0, Col: 0,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "bar",
+					Row:   0, Col: 4,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "f-o",
+					Row:   0, Col: 8,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "f0O",
+					Row:   0, Col: 12,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindName,
+					Value: "Foo",
+					Row:   0, Col: 16,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			in: "1 100 -100",
+			exp: []LexerToken{
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindNumber,
+					Value: "1",
+					Row:   0, Col: 0,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindNumber,
+					Value: "100",
+					Row:   0, Col: 2,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindNumber,
+					Value: "-100",
+					Row:   0, Col: 6,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			in: "1<2!-3 ()",
+			exp: []LexerToken{
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindNumber,
+					Value: "1",
+					Row:   0, Col: 0,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: "<",
+					Row:   0, Col: 1,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindNumber,
+					Value: "2",
+					Row:   0, Col: 2,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: "!",
+					Row:   0, Col: 3,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindNumber,
+					Value: "-3",
+					Row:   0, Col: 4,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: "(",
+					Row:   0, Col: 7,
+				},
+				{
+					Kind:  LexerTokenKindPunctuation,
+					Value: ")",
+					Row:   0, Col: 8,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for i, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(strconv.Itoa(i), func(t *testing.T) {
+
+			lexer := NewLexer(&mockReader{body: []byte(test.in), err: expErr})
+
+			for i := range test.exp {
+				tok, err := lexer.Next()
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
+				assert.Equal(t, test.exp[i], tok, "test.exp[%d]", i)
+			}
+
+			tok, err := lexer.Next()
+			assert.ErrorIs(t, err, expErr)
+			assert.Equal(t, LexerToken{}, tok)
+
+			lexErr := new(LexerError)
+			assert.True(t, errors.As(err, &lexErr))
+
+			inParts := strings.Split(test.in, "\n")
+
+			assert.ErrorIs(t, lexErr, expErr)
+			assert.Equal(t, lexErr.Row, len(inParts)-1)
+			assert.Equal(t, lexErr.Col, len(inParts[len(inParts)-1]))
+		})
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/lexer/lexer.go b/lexer/lexer.go
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc10ae..0000000
--- a/lexer/lexer.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,349 +0,0 @@
-package lexer
-
-import (
-	"bufio"
-	"bytes"
-	"errors"
-	"fmt"
-	"io"
-	"strings"
-)
-
-// TokenType indicates the type of a token
-type TokenType string
-
-// Different token types
-const (
-	Identifier TokenType = "identifier"
-
-	// Punctuation are tokens which connect two other tokens
-	Punctuation TokenType = "punctuation"
-
-	// Wrapper wraps one or more tokens
-	Wrapper TokenType = "wrapper"
-	String  TokenType = "string"
-	Err     TokenType = "err"
-	EOF     TokenType = "eof"
-)
-
-// Token is a single token which has been read in. All Tokens have a non-empty
-// Val
-type Token struct {
-	TokenType
-	Val      string
-	Row, Col int
-}
-
-// Equal returns whether two tokens are of equal type and value
-func (tok Token) Equal(tok2 Token) bool {
-	return tok.TokenType == tok2.TokenType && tok.Val == tok2.Val
-}
-
-// Err returns the error contained by the token, if any. Only returns non-nil if
-// TokenType is Err or EOF
-func (tok Token) Err() error {
-	if tok.TokenType == Err || tok.TokenType == EOF {
-		return fmt.Errorf("[line:%d col:%d] %s", tok.Row, tok.Col, tok.Val)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (tok Token) String() string {
-	var typ string
-	switch tok.TokenType {
-	case Identifier:
-		typ = "ident"
-	case Punctuation:
-		typ = "punct"
-	case String:
-		typ = "str"
-	case Err, EOF:
-		typ = "err"
-	}
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s(%q)", typ, tok.Val)
-}
-
-type lexerFn func(*Lexer) lexerFn
-
-// Lexer is used to read in ginger tokens from a source. HasNext() must be
-// called before every call to Next()
-type Lexer struct {
-	in  *bufio.Reader
-	out *bytes.Buffer
-	cur lexerFn
-
-	next []Token
-
-	row, col       int
-	absRow, absCol int
-}
-
-// New returns a Lexer which will read tokens from the given source.
-func New(r io.Reader) *Lexer {
-	return &Lexer{
-		in:  bufio.NewReader(r),
-		out: new(bytes.Buffer),
-		cur: lex,
-
-		row: -1,
-		col: -1,
-	}
-}
-
-func (l *Lexer) emit(t TokenType) {
-	str := l.out.String()
-	if str == "" {
-		panic("cannot emit empty token")
-	}
-	l.out.Reset()
-
-	l.emitTok(Token{
-		TokenType: t,
-		Val:       str,
-		Row:       l.row,
-		Col:       l.col,
-	})
-}
-
-func (l *Lexer) emitErr(err error) {
-	tok := Token{
-		TokenType: Err,
-		Val:       err.Error(),
-		Row:       l.absRow,
-		Col:       l.absCol,
-	}
-	if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
-		tok.TokenType = EOF
-	}
-	l.emitTok(tok)
-}
-
-func (l *Lexer) emitTok(tok Token) {
-	l.next = append(l.next, tok)
-	l.row = -1
-	l.col = -1
-}
-
-func (l *Lexer) readRune() (rune, error) {
-	r, _, err := l.in.ReadRune()
-	if err != nil {
-		return r, err
-	}
-
-	if r == '\n' {
-		l.absRow++
-		l.absCol = 0
-	} else {
-		l.absCol++
-	}
-
-	return r, err
-}
-
-func (l *Lexer) peekRune() (rune, error) {
-	r, _, err := l.in.ReadRune()
-	if err != nil {
-		return r, err
-	}
-
-	if err := l.in.UnreadRune(); err != nil {
-		return r, err
-	}
-	return r, nil
-}
-
-func (l *Lexer) readAndPeek() (rune, rune, error) {
-	r, err := l.readRune()
-	if err != nil {
-		return r, 0, err
-	}
-
-	n, err := l.peekRune()
-	return r, n, err
-}
-
-func (l *Lexer) bufferRune(r rune) {
-	l.out.WriteRune(r)
-	if l.row < 0 && l.col < 0 {
-		l.row, l.col = l.absRow, l.absCol
-	}
-}
-
-// HasNext returns true if Next should be called, and false if it should not be
-// called and Err should be called instead. When HasNext returns false the Lexer
-// is considered to be done
-func (l *Lexer) HasNext() bool {
-	for {
-		if len(l.next) > 0 {
-			return true
-		} else if l.cur == nil {
-			return false
-		}
-		l.cur = l.cur(l)
-	}
-}
-
-// Next returns the next available token. HasNext must be called before every
-// call to Next
-func (l *Lexer) Next() Token {
-	t := l.next[0]
-	l.next = l.next[1:]
-	if len(l.next) == 0 {
-		l.next = nil
-	}
-	return t
-}
-
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-// the actual fsm
-
-var whitespaceSet = " \n\r\t\v\f"
-var punctuationSet = ",>"
-var wrapperSet = "{}()"
-var identifierSepSet = whitespaceSet + punctuationSet + wrapperSet
-
-func lex(l *Lexer) lexerFn {
-	r, err := l.readRune()
-	if err != nil {
-		l.emitErr(err)
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	// handle comments first, cause we have to peek for those. We ignore errors,
-	// and assume that any error that would happen here will happen again the
-	// next read
-	if n, _ := l.peekRune(); r == '/' && n == '/' {
-		return lexLineComment
-	} else if r == '/' && n == '*' {
-		return lexBlockComment
-	}
-
-	return lexSingleRune(l, r)
-}
-
-func lexSingleRune(l *Lexer, r rune) lexerFn {
-	switch {
-	case strings.ContainsRune(whitespaceSet, r):
-		return lex
-	case strings.ContainsRune(punctuationSet, r):
-		l.bufferRune(r)
-		l.emit(Punctuation)
-		return lex
-	case strings.ContainsRune(wrapperSet, r):
-		l.bufferRune(r)
-		l.emit(Wrapper)
-		return lex
-	case r == '"' || r == '\'' || r == '`':
-		canEscape := r != '`'
-		return lexStrStart(l, r, makeLexStr(r, canEscape))
-	default:
-		l.bufferRune(r)
-		return lexIdentifier
-	}
-}
-
-func lexIdentifier(l *Lexer) lexerFn {
-	r, err := l.readRune()
-	if err != nil {
-		l.emit(Identifier)
-		l.emitErr(err)
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	if strings.ContainsRune(identifierSepSet, r) {
-		l.emit(Identifier)
-		return lexSingleRune(l, r)
-	}
-
-	l.bufferRune(r)
-
-	return lexIdentifier
-}
-
-func lexLineComment(l *Lexer) lexerFn {
-	r, err := l.readRune()
-	if err != nil {
-		l.emitErr(err)
-		return nil
-	}
-	if r == '\n' {
-		return lex
-	}
-	return lexLineComment
-}
-
-// assumes the starting / has been read already
-func lexBlockComment(l *Lexer) lexerFn {
-	depth := 1
-
-	var recurse lexerFn
-	recurse = func(l *Lexer) lexerFn {
-		r, err := l.readRune()
-		if err != nil {
-			l.emitErr(err)
-			return nil
-		}
-		n, _ := l.peekRune()
-
-		if r == '/' && n == '*' {
-			depth++
-		} else if r == '*' && n == '/' {
-			depth--
-		}
-
-		if depth == 0 {
-			return lexSkipThen(lex)
-		}
-		return recurse
-	}
-	return recurse
-}
-
-func lexStrStart(lexer *Lexer, r rune, then lexerFn) lexerFn {
-	lexer.bufferRune(r)
-	return then
-}
-
-func makeLexStr(quoteC rune, canEscape bool) lexerFn {
-	var fn lexerFn
-	fn = func(l *Lexer) lexerFn {
-		r, n, err := l.readAndPeek()
-		if err != nil {
-			if err == io.EOF {
-				if r == quoteC {
-					l.bufferRune(r)
-					l.emit(String)
-					l.emitErr(err)
-					return nil
-				}
-				l.emitErr(errors.New("expected end of string, got end of file"))
-				return nil
-			}
-		}
-
-		if canEscape && r == '\\' && n == quoteC {
-			l.bufferRune(r)
-			l.bufferRune(n)
-			return lexSkipThen(fn)
-		}
-
-		l.bufferRune(r)
-		if r == quoteC {
-			l.emit(String)
-			return lex
-		}
-
-		return fn
-	}
-	return fn
-}
-
-func lexSkipThen(then lexerFn) lexerFn {
-	return func(l *Lexer) lexerFn {
-		if _, err := l.readRune(); err != nil {
-			l.emitErr(err)
-			return nil
-		}
-		return then
-	}
-}
diff --git a/lexer/lexer_test.go b/lexer/lexer_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 376e133..0000000
--- a/lexer/lexer_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,82 +0,0 @@
-package lexer
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	. "testing"
-
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-)
-
-var lexTestSrc = `
-	// this is a comment
-	// // this is also a comment
-	a
-	anIdentifier
-	1
-	100
-	1.5
-	1.5e9
-
-	/*
-		some stuff
-	*/
-
-	/* this should actually work */
-	/*/
-
-	/*
-		nested!
-		/*
-			wtf this is crazy
-		*/
-	*/
-
-	(punctuation,is{cool}> )
-	-tab
-
-	"this is a string", "and so is this one"
-	"\"foo"
-	"bar\"baz\""
-	"buz\0"
-`
-
-func TestLex(t *T) {
-	l := New(bytes.NewBufferString(lexTestSrc))
-
-	assertNext := func(typ TokenType, val string, row, col int) {
-		t.Logf("asserting %s %q [row:%d col:%d]", typ, val, row, col)
-		require.True(t, l.HasNext())
-		tok := l.Next()
-		assert.Equal(t, typ, tok.TokenType)
-		assert.Equal(t, val, tok.Val)
-		assert.Equal(t, row, tok.Row)
-		assert.Equal(t, col, tok.Col)
-	}
-
-	assertNext(Identifier, "a", 3, 2)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "anIdentifier", 4, 2)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "1", 5, 2)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "100", 6, 2)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "1.5", 7, 2)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "1.5e9", 8, 2)
-	assertNext(Wrapper, "(", 24, 2)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "punctuation", 24, 3)
-	assertNext(Punctuation, ",", 24, 14)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "is", 24, 15)
-	assertNext(Wrapper, "{", 24, 17)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "cool", 24, 18)
-	assertNext(Wrapper, "}", 24, 22)
-	assertNext(Punctuation, ">", 24, 23)
-	assertNext(Wrapper, ")", 24, 25)
-	assertNext(Identifier, "-tab", 25, 2)
-	assertNext(String, `"this is a string"`, 27, 2)
-	assertNext(Punctuation, ",", 27, 20)
-	assertNext(String, `"and so is this one"`, 27, 22)
-	assertNext(String, `"\"foo"`, 28, 2)
-	assertNext(String, `"bar\"baz\""`, 29, 2)
-	assertNext(String, `"buz\0"`, 30, 2)
-	assertNext(EOF, "EOF", 31, 0)
-
-	assert.False(t, l.HasNext())
-}