Title
An exercise in iterative domain-specific language design
Abstract
We describe our experiences with the process of designing a domain-specific language (DSL) and corresponding model transformations. The simultaneous development of the language and the transformations has lead to an iterative evolution of the DSL. We identified four main influences on the evolution of our DSL: the problem domain, the target platforms, model quality, and model transformation quality. Our DSL is aimed at modeling the structure and behavior of distributed communicating systems. Simultaneously with the development of our DSL, we implemented three model transformations to different formalisms: one for simulation, one for execution, and one for verification. Transformations to each of these formalisms were implemented one at the time, while preserving the validity of the existing ones. The DSL and the formalisms for simulation, execution, and verification have different semantic characteristics. We also implemented a number of model transformations that bridge the semantic gaps between our DSL and each of the three formalisms. In this paper, we describe our development process and how the aforementioned influences have caused our DSL to evolve.
Year
DOI
Venue
2010
10.1145/1862372.1862386
Journal of Applied Physics
Keywords
Field
DocType
model transformation quality,iterative evolution,simultaneous development,model transformation,different formalisms,iterative domain-specific language design,development process,corresponding model transformation,different semantic characteristic,model quality,domain-specific language,software evolution
Domain-specific language,Model transformation,Programming language,Problem domain,Digital subscriber line,Computer science,Theoretical computer science,Model quality,Program comprehension,Software evolution,Rotation formalisms in three dimensions
Conference
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
15
0.85
13
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
M. F. van Amstel11186.86
Mark Van Den Brand21298110.20
Luc Engelen3857.70