Survey on Domain Specific Languages Implementation Aspects

Abstract

Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) bridge the gap between the business model and the technical model. DSLs allow the technical developer to write programs with the business domain notations. This leads to higher productivity and better quality than General Purpose Languages (GPLs). One of the main challenges of utilizing DSLs in the current software process is how to reduce the implementation cost and the knowledge required for building and maintaining DSLs. Language workbenches are environments that provide high level tools for implementing different language aspects. The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey on the different aspects of implementing DSLs. The survey includes structure, editor, semantics, and composability language aspects. Furthermore, it overviews the approaches used for each aspect and classify the current workbenches according to these approaches.