The State of the Art in Language Workbenches. Conclusions from the Language Workbench Challenge

Language workbenches are tools that provide high-level mechanisms for the implementation of (domain-specific) languages. Language workbenches are an active area of research that also receives many contributions from industry. To compare and discuss existing language workbenches, the annual Language Workbench Challenge was launched in 2011. Each year, participants are challenged to realize a given domain-specific language with their workbenches as a basis for discussion and comparison. In this paper, we describe the state of the art of language workbenches as observed in the previous editions of the Language Workbench Challenge. In particular, we capture the design space of language workbenches in a feature model and show where in this design space the participants of the 2013 Language Workbench Challenge reside. We compare these workbenches based on a DSL for questionnaires that was realized in all workbenches

Injecting Language Workbench Technology into Mainstream Languages

Eelco Visser envisioned a future where DSLs become a commonplace abstraction in software development. He took strides towards implementing this vision with the Spoofax language workbench. However, his vision is far from the mainstream of programming today. How will the many mainstream programmers encounter and adopt language workbench technology? We propose that the macro systems found in emerging industrial languages open a path towards delivering language workbenches as easy-to-adopt libraries. To develop the idea, we sketch an implementation of a language workbench as a macro-library atop Racket and identify the key features of the macro system needed to enable this evolution path

Using Spoofax to Support Online Code Navigation

Spoofax is a language workbench. A Spoofax language specification generally includes name resolution: the analysis of bindings between definitions and references. When browsing code in the specified language using Spoofax, the bindings appear as hyperlinks, supporting precise name-based code navigation. However, Spoofax cannot be used for browsing code in online repositories. This paper is about a toolchain that uses Spoofax to generate hyperlinked twins of code repositories. These generated artefacts support the same precise code navigation as Spoofax, and can be browsed online. The technique has been prototyped on the CBS (Component-Based Semantics) specification language developed by the PLanCompS project, but could be used on any language after specifying its name resolution in Spoofax

The Importance of Being Eelco

Programming language designers and implementers are taught that: semantics are more worthwhile than syntax, that programs exist to embody proofs, rather than to get work done, and to value Dijkstra more than Van Wijngaarden. Eelco Visser believed that, while there is value in the items on the left, there is at least as much value in the items on the right. This short paper explores how Eelco Visser embodied these values, and how he encouraged our work on the Grace programming language, supported that work withio Spoofax, and provided a venue for discussion within the WG2.16 Programming Language Design working group

Eelco Visser: The Oregon Connection

This paper shares some memories of Eelco gathered over the past 25 years as a colleague and friend, and reflects on the nature of modern international collaborations