research-article

Vision: the next 700 language workbenches

Author:

Mikhail BarashAuthors Info & Claims

SLE 2021: Proceedings of the 14th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering

Pages 16 - 21

https://doi.org/10.1145/3486608.3486907

Published: 22 November 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Language workbenches (LWBs) are tools to define software languages together with tailored Integrated Development Environments for them. A comprehensive review of language workbenches by Erdweg et al. (Comput. Lang. Syst. Struct. 44, 2015) presented a feature model of functionality of LWBs from the point of view of "languages that can be defined with a LWB, and not the definition mechanism of the LWB itself". This vision paper discusses possible functionality of LWBs with regard to language definition mechanisms. We have identified five groups of such functionality, related to: metadefinitions, metamodifications, metaprocess, LWB itself, and programs written in languages defined in a LWB. We design one of the features ("ability to define dependencies between language concerns") based on our vision.

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Language workbenches (LWBs) are tools to define software languages together with tailored Integrated Development Environments for them. A comprehensive review of language workbenches by Erdweg et al. (Comput. Lang. Syst. Struct. 44, 2015) presented a feature model of functionality of LWBs from the point of view of "languages that can be defined with a LWB, and not the definition mechanism of the LWB itself". This vision paper discusses possible functionality of LWBs with regard to language definition mechanisms. We have identified five groups of such functionality, related to: metadefinitions, metamodifications, metaprocess, LWB itself, and programs written in languages defined in a LWB. We design one of the features ("ability to define dependencies between language concerns") based on our vision.

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Cited By

Bunte ODenkers Jvan Gool LVinju JVisser EWillemse TZaidman A(2024)OIL: an industrial case study in language engineering with SpoofaxSoftware and Systems Modeling10.1007/s10270-024-01185-x24:1(139-182)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10270-024-01185-x

Index Terms

Vision: the next 700 language workbenches
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. Context specific languages
    2. Development frameworks and environments

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cover image ACM Conferences

SLE 2021: Proceedings of the 14th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering

October 2021

176 pages

ISBN:9781450391115

DOI:10.1145/3486608

General Chair:
Eelco Visser
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
,
Program Chairs:
Dimitris Kolovos
University of York, UK
,
Emma Söderberg
Lund University, Sweden

Copyright © 2021 ACM.

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Published: 22 November 2021

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Cited By

Bunte ODenkers Jvan Gool LVinju JVisser EWillemse TZaidman A(2024)OIL: an industrial case study in language engineering with SpoofaxSoftware and Systems Modeling10.1007/s10270-024-01185-x24:1(139-182)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10270-024-01185-x

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