SE's most difinitive statement yet on parsers

[Mcshiggs]

And if you read the back and forth between me and Elven, you'd see it's about calling it a cheat, which it isn't. Not saying it's ok, not saying it isn't ok. Simply saying it's not a cheat, no matter how much one wants to believe it is.

Definition of cheat: to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something
It is against ToS to use parsers, so that is breaking a rule if you use one, and the reason for using one is to gain an advantage, so by definition, it is cheating. The fact that it is against the rules is part of what makes it cheating, if it wasn't against ToS, it would still be used to gain an advantage, but since it would no longer be breaking a rule, it would no longer be cheating. It's like using a calculator on an algebra test, some teachers are ok with because they are just wanting to teach you the algebraic principles and you should already have a firm grasp on simple math, some teachers won't let you use that calculator because they think by not using one you are keeping you simple math skills honed. It is cheating to use the calculator in one class, where it isn't in the other, even though it would provide the same benefit to both.