Name
Title | ||
|---|---|---|
Modular specification and dynamic enforcement of syntactic language constraints when generating code |
Abstract | ||
|---|---|---|
A key problem in metaprogramming and specifically in generative programming is to guarantee that generated code is well-formed with respect to the context-free and context-sensitive constraints of the target language. We propose typesmart constructors as a dynamic approach to enforcing the well-formedness of generated code. A typesmart constructor is a function that is used in place of a regular constructor to create values, but it may reject the creation of values if the given data violates some language-specific constraint. While typesmart constructors can be implemented individually, we demonstrate how to derive them automatically from a grammar, so that the grammar remains the sole specification of a language's syntax and is not duplicated. We have integrated support for typesmart constructors into the run-time system of Stratego to enforce usage of typesmart constructors implicitly whenever a regular constructor is called. We evaluate the applicability, performance, and usefulness of typesmart constructors for syntactic constraints in a compiler for MiniJava developed with Spoofax and in various language extensions of Java and Haskell implemented with SugarJ and SugarHaskell. |
Year | DOI | Venue |
|---|---|---|
2014 | 10.1145/2577080.2577089 | MODULARITY |
Keywords | Field | DocType |
target language,syntactic language constraint,integrated support,context-sensitive constraint,modular specification,dynamic approach,regular constructor,various language extension,dynamic enforcement,language-specific constraint,typesmart constructor,generative programming,key problem,dynamic analysis,abstract syntax tree | Metaprogramming,Programming language,Program transformation,Computer science,Abstract syntax tree,Theoretical computer science,Compiler,Haskell,Generative grammar,Syntax,Type constructor | Conference |
Citations | PageRank | References |
1 | 0.41 | 0 |
Authors | ||
4 | ||
Name | Order | Citations | PageRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Erdweg | 1 | 461 | 33.21 |
| Vlad Vergu | 2 | 47 | 5.01 |
| Mira Mezini | 3 | 3171 | 211.04 |
| Eelco Visser | 4 | 1683 | 123.27 |