The MPS Language Workbench


Book Description

The MPS Language Workbench, Volume I (third edition). The first volume of the series is both a simple introduction to the JetBrains MPS language workbench and a complete reference manual. The Meta-Programming System (MPS) is a new kind of tool called a language workbench that simply stated makes it easier and more fun to write programs. With traditional programming, it is common to choose one programming language to solve a problem and being limited by this choice. When working with MPS you can use and combine different languages to solve a problem. You can also create simple languages (e.g., Domain Specific Languages) or extend existing ones when the languages available do not exactly meet the evolving needs of the problem at hand. The languages that you create with MPS will integrate nicely with languages developed by others. MPS is open-source and can be obtained from http://jetbrains.com/mps or http://github.com/JetBrains/MPS. This book explains the MPS programming paradigm and gradually introduces the reader to the many features of the MPS platform. This book may yet be the simplest way to discover the MPS language workbench and the powerful new approach to programming that this tool offers. The third edition of this book describes MPS 3.3.




The MPS Language Workbench


Book Description

The MPS Language Workbench, Volume II (first edition). The second volume of the series explains how to customize the JetBrains Meta-Programming System (MPS) platform to better integrate it with the needs of your languages. Volume II continues where Volume I ended and discusses more advanced features of the MPS platform. This book includes a detailed example to illustrate the design and implementation of a custom web aspect. This detailed example illustrates how the advanced features of the MPS platform make it possible to design languages suitable to generate complete applications. The Meta-Programming System (MPS) is a new kind of tool called a Language Workbench that makes it easier and more fun to write programs. With traditional programming, it is common to choose one programming language to solve a problem and being limited by this choice. When working with MPS you can use and combine different languages to solve a problem. You can also create simple languages (e.g., Domain Specific Languages) or extend existing ones when the languages available do not exactly meet the evolving needs of the problem at hand. The languages that you create with MPS will integrate nicely with languages developed by others. MPS is open-source and can be obtained from http://jetbrains.com/mps (or http://github.com/JetBrains/MPS/).




Domain-Specific Languages in Practice


Book Description

This book covers several topics related to domain-specific language (DSL) engineering in general and how they can be handled by means of the JetBrains Meta Programming System (MPS), an open source language workbench developed by JetBrains over the last 15 years. The book begins with an overview of the domain of language workbenches, which provides perspectives and motivations underpinning the creation of MPS. Moreover, technical details of the language underneath MPS together with the definition of the tool’s main features are discussed. The remaining ten chapters are then organized in three parts, each dedicated to a specific aspect of the topic. Part I “MPS in Industrial Applications” deals with the challenges and inadequacies of general-purpose languages used in companies, as opposed to the reasons why DSLs are essential, together with their benefits and efficiency, and summarizes lessons learnt by using MPS. Part II about “MPS in Research Projects” covers the benefits of text-based languages, the design and development of gamification applications, and research fields with generally low expertise in language engineering. Eventually, Part III focuses on “Teaching and Learning with MPS” by discussing the organization of both commercial and academic courses on MPS. MPS is used to implement languages for real-world use. Its distinguishing feature is projectional editing, which supports practically unlimited language extension and composition possibilities as well as a flexible mix of a wide range of textual, tabular, mathematical and graphical notations. The number and diversity of the presented use-cases demonstrate the strength and malleability of the DSLs defined using MPS. The selected contributions represent the current state of the art and practice in using JetBrains MPS to implement languages for real-world applications.




Building User-Friendly DSLs


Book Description

Craft domain-specific languages that empower experts to create software themselves. Domain-specific languages put business experts at the heart of software development. These purpose-built tools let your clients write down their business knowledge and have it automatically translated into working software—no dev time required. They seamlessly bridge the knowledge gap between programmers and subject experts, enabling better communication and freeing you from time-consuming code adjustments. Inside Building User-Friendly DSLs you’ll learn how to: • Build a complete Domain IDE for a car rental company • Implement a projectional editor for your DSL • Implement content assist, type systems, expressions, and versioning language aspects • Evaluate business rules • Work with Abstract Syntax Trees • Reduce notated DSL content in concrete syntax into abstract syntax Building User-Friendly DSLs takes you on a carefully-planned journey through everything you need to create your own DSLs. It focuses on building DSLs that are easy for busy business experts to learn and master. By working through a detailed example of a car rental company, you'll see how to create a custom DSL with a modern and intuitive UI that can replace tedious coding activities. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the technology Here’s the central problem of software development: business users know what they need their apps to do, but they don’t know how to write the code themselves. As a developer, this means you spend a lot of time learning the same domain-specific details your user already knows. Now there’s a way to bridge this gap! You can create a Domain-Specific Language (DSL) that empowers non-technical business users to create and customize their own applications without writing any code. About the book Building User-Friendly DSLs teaches you how to create a complete domain-specific language that looks and works like a web application. These easy-to-use DSLs put the power to create custom software into the hands of business domain experts. As you go, you’ll cover all the essentials, from establishing structure and syntax of your DSL to implementing a user-friendly interface. What's inside • Implement a projectional editor for your DSL • Work with Abstract Syntax Trees • Evaluate business rules About the reader For developers with JavaScript and web development experience. About the author Meinte Boersma is a senior developer and an evangelist of model-driven software development and DSLs. Table of Contents 1 What is a domain-specific language? 2 Representing DSL content as structured data 3 Working with ASTs in code 4 Projecting the AST 5 Editing values in the projection 6 Editing objects in the projection 7 Implementing persistence and transportation of ASTs 8 Generating code from the AST 9 Preventing things from blowing up 10 Managing change 11 Implementing expressions: Binary operations 12 Implementing expressions: Order of operations 13 Implementing a type system 14 Implementing business rules 15 Some topics we didn’t cover




DSL Engineering


Book Description

The definitive resource on domain-specific languages: based on years of real-world experience, relying on modern language workbenches and full of examples. Domain-Specific Languages are programming languages specialized for a particular application domain. By incorporating knowledge about that domain, DSLs can lead to more concise and more analyzable programs, better code quality and increased development speed. This book provides a thorough introduction to DSL, relying on today's state of the art language workbenches. The book has four parts: introduction, DSL design, DSL implementation as well as the role of DSLs in various aspects of software engineering. Part I Introduction: This part introduces DSLs in general and discusses their advantages and drawbacks. It also defines important terms and concepts and introduces the case studies used in the most of the remainder of the book. Part II DSL Design: This part discusses the design of DSLs - independent of implementation techniques. It reviews seven design dimensions, explains a number of reusable language paradigms and points out a number of process-related issues. Part III DSL Implementation: This part provides details about the implementation of DSLs with lots of code. It uses three state-of-the-art but quite different language workbenches: JetBrains MPS, Eclipse Xtext and TU Delft's Spoofax. Part IV DSLs and Software Engineering: This part discusses the use of DSLs for requirements, architecture, implementation and product line engineering, as well as their roles as a developer utility and for implementing business logic. The book is available as a printed version (the one your are looking at) and as a PDF. For details see the book's companion website at http: //dslbook.org




Generic Tools, Specific Languages


Book Description

Generic Tools, Specific Languages (GTSL) is an approach for developing tools and applications in a way that supports easier and more meaningful adaptation to specific domains. To achieve this goal, GTSL generalizes programming language IDEs to domains traditionally not addressed by languages and IDEs. At its core, GTSL represents applications as documents/programs/models expressed with suitable languages. Application functionality is provided through an IDE that is aware of the languages and their semantics. The IDE provides editing support, and also directly integrates domain-specific analyses and execution services. Applications and their languages can be adapted to increasingly specific domains using language engineering; this includes developing incremental extensions to existing languages or creating additional, tightly integrated languages. Language workbenches act as the foundation on which such applications are built. mbeddr is an extensible set of integrated languages for embedded software development built using the Generic Tools, Specific Languages approach.




Generative and Transformational Techniques in Software Engineering IV


Book Description

This tutorial volume includes revised and extended lecture notes of six long tutorials, five short tutorials, and one peer-reviewed participant contribution held at the 4th International Summer School on Generative and Transformational Techniques in Software Engineering, GTTSE 2011. The school presents the state of the art in software language engineering and generative and transformational techniques in software engineering with coverage of foundations, methods, tools, and case studies.




Domain-Specific Languages


Book Description

When carefully selected and used, Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) may simplify complex code, promote effective communication with customers, improve productivity, and unclog development bottlenecks. In Domain-Specific Languages, noted software development expert Martin Fowler first provides the information software professionals need to decide if and when to utilize DSLs. Then, where DSLs prove suitable, Fowler presents effective techniques for building them, and guides software engineers in choosing the right approaches for their applications. This book’s techniques may be utilized with most modern object-oriented languages; the author provides numerous examples in Java and C#, as well as selected examples in Ruby. Wherever possible, chapters are organized to be self-standing, and most reference topics are presented in a familiar patterns format. Armed with this wide-ranging book, developers will have the knowledge they need to make important decisions about DSLs—and, where appropriate, gain the significant technical and business benefits they offer. The topics covered include: How DSLs compare to frameworks and libraries, and when those alternatives are sufficient Using parsers and parser generators, and parsing external DSLs Understanding, comparing, and choosing DSL language constructs Determining whether to use code generation, and comparing code generation strategies Previewing new language workbench tools for creating DSLs




Model-Driven Software Development


Book Description

Model-Driven Software Development (MDSD) is currently a highly regarded development paradigm among developers and researchers. With the advent of OMG's MDA and Microsoft's Software Factories, the MDSD approach has moved to the centre of the programmer's attention, becoming the focus of conferences such as OOPSLA, JAOO and OOP. MDSD is about using domain-specific languages to create models that express application structure or behaviour in an efficient and domain-specific way. These models are subsequently transformed into executable code by a sequence of model transformations. This practical guide for software architects and developers is peppered with practical examples and extensive case studies. International experts deliver: * A comprehensive overview of MDSD and how it relates to industry standards such as MDA and Software Factories. * Technical details on meta modeling, DSL construction, model-to-model and model-to-code transformations, and software architecture. * Invaluable insight into the software development process, plus engineering issues such as versioning, testing and product line engineering. * Essential management knowledge covering economic and organizational topics, from a global perspective. Get started and benefit from some practical support along the way!




Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel


Book Description

Useful business analysis requires you to effectively transform data into actionable information. This book helps you use SQL and Excel to extract business information from relational databases and use that data to define business dimensions, store transactions about customers, produce results, and more. Each chapter explains when and why to perform a particular type of business analysis in order to obtain useful results, how to design and perform the analysis using SQL and Excel, and what the results should look like.