Illicium A modular transpilation toolchain from Pharo to C

International audienceThe Pharo programming language runs on the OpenSmalltalk-VM. This Virtual Machine (VM) is mainly written in Slang, a subset of the Smalltalk language dedicated to VM development. Slang is transpiled to C using the Slang-to-C transpiler. The generated C is then compiled to produce the VM exe-cutable binary code. Slang is a powerful dialect for generating C because it benefits from the tools of the Smalltalk environment, including a simulator that runs and debugs the VM. However, the Slang-to-C transpiler is often too permissive. For example, the Slang-to-C transpiler generates invalid C code from some Smalltalk concepts it does not support. This makes the Slang code hard to debug as the errors are caught very late during the development process, which is worsen by the loss of the mapping between the generated C code and Slang. The Slang-to-C transpiler is also hard to extend or adapt to modify part of the translation process. In this paper we present Illicium, a new modular transpila-tion toolchain based on a subset of Pharo targeting C through AST transformations. This toolchain translates the Pharo AST into a C AST to generate C code. Using ASTs as source and target artifacts enables analysis, modification and validation at different levels during the translation process. The main translator is split into smaller and replaceable translators to increase modularity. Illicium also allows the possibility to introduce new translators and to chain them together, increasing reusability. To evaluate our approach, we show with a use case how to extend the transpilation process with a translation that requires changes not considered in the original C AST

Illicium A modular transpilation toolchain from Pharo to C

International audienceThe Pharo programming language runs on the OpenSmalltalk-VM. This Virtual Machine (VM) is mainly written in Slang, a subset of the Smalltalk language dedicated to VM development. Slang is transpiled to C using the Slang-to-C transpiler. The generated C is then compiled to produce the VM exe-cutable binary code. Slang is a powerful dialect for generating C because it benefits from the tools of the Smalltalk environment, including a simulator that runs and debugs the VM. However, the Slang-to-C transpiler is often too permissive. For example, the Slang-to-C transpiler generates invalid C code from some Smalltalk concepts it does not support. This makes the Slang code hard to debug as the errors are caught very late during the development process, which is worsen by the loss of the mapping between the generated C code and Slang. The Slang-to-C transpiler is also hard to extend or adapt to modify part of the translation process. In this paper we present Illicium, a new modular transpila-tion toolchain based on a subset of Pharo targeting C through AST transformations. This toolchain translates the Pharo AST into a C AST to generate C code. Using ASTs as source and target artifacts enables analysis, modification and validation at different levels during the translation process. The main translator is split into smaller and replaceable translators to increase modularity. Illicium also allows the possibility to introduce new translators and to chain them together, increasing reusability. To evaluate our approach, we show with a use case how to extend the transpilation process with a translation that requires changes not considered in the original C AST

Aviation System Analysis Capability Executive Assistant Design

In this technical document, we describe the design developed for the Aviation System Analysis Capability (ASAC) Executive Assistant (EA) Proof of Concept (POC). We describe the genesis and role of the ASAC system, discuss the objectives of the ASAC system and provide an overview of components and models within the ASAC system, and describe the design process and the results of the ASAC EA POC system design. We also describe the evaluation process and results for applicable COTS software. The document has six chapters, a bibliography, three appendices and one attachment

Knowledge, programming, and programming cultures: LISP, C, and Ada

The results of research 'Ada as an implementation language for knowledge based systems' are presented. The purpose of the research was to compare Ada to other programming languages. The report focuses on the programming languages Ada, C, and Lisp, the programming cultures that surround them, and the programming paradigms they support

Overview of database projects

The use of entity and object oriented data modeling techniques for managing Computer Aided Design (CAD) is explored

Advancing Operating Systems via Aspect-Oriented Programming

Operating system kernels are among the most complex pieces of software in existence to- day. Maintaining the kernel code and developing new functionality is increasingly compli- cated, since the amount of required features has risen significantly, leading to side ef fects that can be introduced inadvertedly by changing a piece of code that belongs to a completely dif ferent context. Software developers try to modularize their code base into separate functional units. Some of the functionality or “concerns” required in a kernel, however, does not fit into the given modularization structure; this code may then be spread over the code base and its implementation tangled with code implementing dif ferent concerns. These so-called “crosscutting concerns” are especially dif ficult to handle since a change in a crosscutting concern implies that all relevant locations spread throughout the code base have to be modified. Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD) is an approach to handle crosscutting concerns by factoring them out into separate modules. The “advice” code contained in these modules is woven into the original code base according to a pointcut description, a set of interaction points (joinpoints) with the code base. To be used in operating systems, AOSD requires tool support for the prevalent procedu- ral programming style as well as support for weaving aspects. Many interactions in kernel code are dynamic, so in order to implement non-static behavior and improve performance, a dynamic weaver that deploys and undeploys aspects at system runtime is required. This thesis presents an extension of the “C” programming language to support AOSD. Based on this, two dynamic weaving toolkits – TOSKANA and TOSKANA-VM – are presented to permit dynamic aspect weaving in the monolithic NetBSD kernel as well as in a virtual- machine and microkernel-based Linux kernel running on top of L4. Based on TOSKANA, applications for this dynamic aspect technology are discussed and evaluated. The thesis closes with a view on an aspect-oriented kernel structure that maintains coherency and handles crosscutting concerns using dynamic aspects while enhancing de- velopment methods through the use of domain-specific programming languages

Quelle rhétorique pour les articles scientifiques ?

Cet article présente une grille d’analyse rhétorique qui devrait pouvoir s’appliquer aux articles de recherche en informatique et aussi, nous l’espérons, dans d’autres domaines scientifiques. Nous exposons d’abord les trois concepts essentiels de l’analyse textuelle, théorie sur laquelle se fonde notre analyse rhétorique, c.-à-d. les présupposés, le paragraphe conceptuel et le tableau de la démarche rhétorique. Ensuite nous affinons les définitions de cinq fonctions rhétoriques générales issues de ce tableau et en ajoutons une nouvelle. Dans la dernière partie, nous dégageons les deux principales difficultés de cette approche : difficulté d’identifier les fonctions rhétoriques générales et difficulté de trouver des paragraphes conceptuels qui soient gouvernés par une seule de ces fonctions. Ces difficultés nous conduisent à définir de façon plus générale le paragraphe conceptuel et à le situer de façon plus précise dans le tableau de la démarche rhétorique et le plan IMRED.In this article I present a tentative rhetorical grid to be applied to research articles in computer science and hopefully, in other scientific fields. First, I outline the three main tenets of textual analysis, namely presupposition, the conceptual paragraph and the rhetorical process chart. I then refine five general rhetorical functions from this chart and add a further one. In the last section, I point out the main drawbacks of this approach, i.e., the difficulties faced in identifying general rhetorical functions and in finding conceptual paragraphs that exemplify only one of these functions. These difficulties lead me to a more general definition of the conceptual paragraph and a more accurate positioning of this unit of discourse within the rhetorical process chart and the IMRAD plan

A programmer's environment for music analysis

A model for representing music scores in a form suitable for general processing by a music-analyst-programmer is proposed and implemented. Typical input to the model consists of one or more pieces of music which are encoded in a file-based score representation. File-based representations are in a form unsuited for general processing, as they do not provide a suitable level of abstraction for a programmer-analyst. Instead, a representation is created giving a programmer's view of the score. This frees the analyst-programmer from implementation details, that otherwise would form a substantial barrier to progress. The score representation uses an object-oriented approach to create a natural and robust software environment for the musicologist. The system is used to explore ways in which it could benefit musicologists. Methodologies for analysing music corpora are presented in a series of analytic examples which illustrate some of the potential of this model. Proving hypotheses or performing analysis on corpora involves the construction of algorithms. Some unique aspects of using this score model for corpus-based musicology are: - Algorithms impose a discipline which arises from the necessity for formalism. - Automatic analysis enables musicologists to complete tasks that otherwise would be infeasible because of limitations of their energy, attentiveness, accuracy and time

Testing a federation architecture in collaborative design process

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-146).by Jen-Diann Chiou.M.S

Actes des Sixièmes journées nationales du Groupement De Recherche CNRS du Génie de la Programmation et du Logiciel

National audienceCe document contient les actes des Sixièmes journées nationales du Groupement De Recherche CNRS du Génie de la Programmation et du Logiciel (GDR GPL) s'étant déroulées au CNAM à Paris du 11 au 13 juin 2014. Les contributions présentées dans ce document ont été sélectionnées par les différents groupes de travail du GDR. Il s'agit de résumés, de nouvelles versions, de posters et de démonstrations qui correspondent à des travaux qui ont déjà été validés par les comités de programmes d'autres conférences et revues et dont les droits appartiennent exclusivement à leurs auteurs