Abstract
Embedded Domain Specific Languages make language design and implementation easier, because lexical and syntactical analysis and part of the semantic checks can be completed by the compiler of the host language.
On the other hand, by the nature of embedding, EDSL compilers have to work with a syntax tree that stores no information about the source file processed and the location of the program entities within the source file. This makes it hard to produce user-friendly error messages and connect the generated target code with the source code for debugging and profiling purposes.
This lecture note presents this problem in detail and shows possible solutions. The first, lightweight solution uses macro preprocessing. The second one is based on syntax tree transformations to add missing source-related information. This is more powerful, but also more heavyweight. The last technique avoids the problem by turning the embedded language implementation to a standalone one (with own parser) after the experimental phase of the language development process: It turns out that most of the embedded implementation can be reused in the standalone one.
Supported by EITKIC 12-1-2012-0001.
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Notes
- 1.
In this project we have been using Subversion.
- 2.
Note that this project was entirely implemented in Haskell, which allows much more concise code than the mainstream imperative, object oriented languages.
- 3.
We have been using the Parsec parser combinator library [12] of Haskell. Using context free grammars instead would have resulted in similar code size.
- 4.
“Wadler’s Law: The emotional intensity of debate on a language feature increases as one moves down the following scale: Semantics, Syntax, Lexical syntax, Comments.” (Philiph Wadler in the Haskell mailing list, February 1992, see [18].).
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Dévai, G., Leskó, D., Tejfel, M. (2015). The EDSL’s Struggle for Their Sources. In: Zsók, V., Horváth, Z., Csató, L. (eds) Central European Functional Programming School. CEFP 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8606. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15940-9_7
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