research-article

From object algebras to attribute grammars

Authors:

Tillmann Rendel,

Jonathan Immanuel Brachthäuser,

Klaus OstermannAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 49, Issue 10

Pages 377 - 395

https://doi.org/10.1145/2714064.2660237

Published: 15 October 2014 Publication History

Abstract

Oliveira and Cook (2012) and Oliveira et al. (2013) have recently introduced object algebras as a program structuring technique to improve the modularity and extensibility of programs. We analyze the relationship between object algebras and attribute grammars (AGs), a formalism to augment context-free grammars with attributes. We present an extension of the object algebra technique with which the full class of L-attributed grammars - an important class of AGs that corresponds to one-pass compilers - can be encoded in Scala. The encoding is modular (attributes can be defined and type-checked separately), scalable (the size of the encoding is linear in the size of the AG specification) and compositional (each AG artifact is represented as a semantic object of the host language). To evaluate these claims, we have formalized the encoding and re-implemented a one-pass compiler for a subset of C with our technique. We also discuss how advanced features of modern AG systems, such as higher-order and parameterized attributes, reference attributes, and forwarding can be supported.

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Cited By

Haeri SKeir P(2019)Solving the Expression Problem in C++, á la LMSTheoretical Aspects of Computing – ICTAC 201910.1007/978-3-030-32505-3_20(353-371)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32505-3_20
Heim RMir Seyed Nazari PRumpe BWortmann A(2016)Compositional Language Engineering Using Generated, Extensible, Static Type-Safe VisitorsProceedings of the 12th European Conference on Modelling Foundations and Applications - Volume 976410.1007/978-3-319-42061-5_5(67-82)Online publication date: 6-Jul-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-42061-5_5
Ye WSun YOliveira B(2024)Imperative Compositional Programming: Type Sound Distributive Intersection Subtyping with References via Bidirectional TypingProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36897828:OOPSLA2(2010-2039)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689782
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

From object algebras to attribute grammars
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. Formal language definitions
    2. General programming languages
      1. Language types
        Object oriented languages
2. Theory of computation
  1. Formal languages and automata theory

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Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGPLAN Notices

ACM SIGPLAN Notices Volume 49, Issue 10

OOPSLA '14

October 2014

907 pages

ISSN:0362-1340

EISSN:1558-1160

DOI:10.1145/2714064

Editor:
Andy Gill
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Issue’s Table of Contents

OOPSLA '14: Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Conference on Object Oriented Programming Systems Languages & Applications
October 2014
946 pages
ISBN:9781450325851
DOI:10.1145/2660193
General Chair:
Andrew Black
Portland State University, USA
,
Program Chair:
Todd Millstein
University of California, Los Angeles, USA

Copyright © 2014 ACM.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 15 October 2014

Published in SIGPLAN Volume 49, Issue 10

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Cited By

Haeri SKeir P(2019)Solving the Expression Problem in C++, á la LMSTheoretical Aspects of Computing – ICTAC 201910.1007/978-3-030-32505-3_20(353-371)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32505-3_20
Heim RMir Seyed Nazari PRumpe BWortmann A(2016)Compositional Language Engineering Using Generated, Extensible, Static Type-Safe VisitorsProceedings of the 12th European Conference on Modelling Foundations and Applications - Volume 976410.1007/978-3-319-42061-5_5(67-82)Online publication date: 6-Jul-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-42061-5_5
Ye WSun YOliveira B(2024)Imperative Compositional Programming: Type Sound Distributive Intersection Subtyping with References via Bidirectional TypingProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36897828:OOPSLA2(2010-2039)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689782
Zhang WSun YOliveira B(2021)Compositional ProgrammingACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems10.1145/346022843:3(1-61)Online publication date: 3-Sep-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3460228
Zhang WOliveira B(2020)Pattern matching in an open worldACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/3393934.327812453:9(134-146)Online publication date: 7-Apr-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3393934.3278124
Zhang WOliveira B(2020)Castor: Programming with extensible generative visitorsScience of Computer Programming10.1016/j.scico.2020.102449(102449)Online publication date: Mar-2020
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scico.2020.102449
Bi XXie NOliveira BSchrijvers T(2019)Distributive Disjoint Polymorphism for Compositional ProgrammingProgramming Languages and Systems10.1007/978-3-030-17184-1_14(381-409)Online publication date: 6-Apr-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17184-1_14
Zhang WOliveira BVan Wyk ERompf T(2018)Pattern matching in an open worldProceedings of the 17th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Generative Programming: Concepts and Experiences10.1145/3278122.3278124(134-146)Online publication date: 5-Nov-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3278122.3278124
Kaminski TKramer LCarlson TVan Wyk E(2017)Reliable and automatic composition of language extensions to C: the ableC extensible language frameworkProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/31382241:OOPSLA(1-29)Online publication date: 12-Oct-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3138224
Alpuim JOliveira BShi Z(2017)Disjoint PolymorphismProgramming Languages and Systems10.1007/978-3-662-54434-1_1(1-28)Online publication date: 19-Mar-2017
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-54434-1_1
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