A Distributed Architecture for Programming Environments

Programming environments are typically based on concepts, such as syntax and semantics, and they provide functionalities, such as parsing, editing, type-checking, and compiling. Most existing programming environments are designed in a fully integrated manner, where parsers, editors, and semantic tools are tightly coupled. This leads to systems that are the sum of all their components, with obvious implications in terms of size, reusability, and maintainability. In this paper, we present a proposal for a distributed architecture for programming environments. 1 Introduction Tool integration is widely recognized as a central issue for the future of software development environments. It addresses the cooperation of many tools, from many sources, in a uniform but open framework. Some systems organized around this principle have recently emerged [7], [21], [31]. Quoting the HP CASEdge Soft Bench, it is possible to identify three key aspects of tool integration: data, control, and user inte..