The word "pedang" is generic for "sword", there are many types and the classifying names used can vary from person to person.
A parang is a chopper or cleaver, but if you use a knife to chop, as in chopping up something in the kitchen that knife may be referred to as a parang while you are using it to chop, start using it cut again, and it becomes a knife again. The act of chopping is "marang".
A klewang is a pedang with broad curved blade, what we would call a cutlass.
The above is as I understand the terms to be used in Central Jawa, they may be used differently in other places.
Bahasa Indonesia is the public Indonesian National Language, people in different areas of Indonesia use local languages in normal daily contact and conversation. So what I've given above is Javanese usage in a part of Central Jawa.
Bahasa Indonesia usage requires a parang to have a short blade, for instance, a machete would be a parang.
Bahasa Indonesia is a language developed from the dialect of Malay spoken in South Sumatera. In BI, pedang is still "sword" and "klewang" is still a sword like a cutlass.
In Balinese "parang" and "klewang" appear not to exist, but of course could be used when BI is being used. "Pedang" becomes "peding".
A golok is is also a short chopping tool.
It is possible that pedang, parang, klewang, golok are all words that came into Indonesian and Javanese usage from Malay.
I do not know any of these words in Old Javanese, the language that was used generally in Jawa prior to the Second Kingdom of Mataram, late 16th century. The usual word for a sword in Old Javanese is "kadgo", which comes from the Sanscrit.
The correct classification of weaponry --- and maybe everything else --- in accord with indigenous usage can be incredibly difficult, if not impossible. Firstly we must identify the area that the object comes from, the period during which it was made, and then we must qualify the name we give it in accordance with both geographic location and time frame as well as the source of our information.
My personal preference is that when in doubt, I prefer to use English.
As an after thought:- the name used for any of the above could vary depending on situation and usage. What comes to mind is a situation that I was a part of where an old pedang was being used to chop grass along the side of the street, when the job was being done it was referred to as a parang, when the job was finished and it was wiped clean and put back into its scabbard it was referred to as a pedang.
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