Domain-Specific Languages, Rough Cuts
- By Martin Fowler
- Published Apr 27, 2010 by Addison-Wesley Professional. Part of the Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Fowler) series.
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Description
- Copyright 2011
- Pages: 640
- Edition: 1st
- Rough Cuts
- ISBN-10: 0-13-210755-4
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-210755-6
This is the Rough Cut version of the printed book.
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
Sample Content
Table of Contents
Preface xix
Part I: Narratives 1
Chapter 1: An Introductory Example 3
Gothic Security 3
The State Machine Model 5
Programming Miss Grant’s Controller 9
Languages and Semantic Model 16
Using Code Generation 19
Using Language Workbenches 22
Visualization 24
Chapter 2: Using Domain-Specific Languages 27
Defining Domain-Specific Languages 27
Why Use a DSL? 33
Problems with DSLs 36
Wider Language Processing 39
DSL Lifecycle 40
What Makes a Good DSL Design? 42
Chapter 3: Implementing DSLs 43
Architecture of DSL Processing 43
The Workings of a Parser 47
Grammars, Syntax, and Semantics 49
Parsing Data 50
Macros 52
Chapter 4: Implementing an Internal DSL 67
Fluent and Command-Query APIs 68
The Need for a Parsing Layer 71
Using Functions 72
Literal Collections 77
Using Grammars to Choose Internal Elements 79
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