The document discusses the Spoofax language workbench, which allows for integrated development environments to be defined along with domain-specific languages. It enables language definitions to specify transformations for parsing, static analysis, model-to-model transformations, code generation, and editor services like syntax highlighting and error marking. This is done through declarative syntax definitions and rewriting rules, aiming to make language development and IDE creation cheaper and more unified.

1. The Spoofax
Language Workbench
Lennart Kats Eelco Visser

2. Software Engineering
implement
Problem Software
validate

3. High-level languages reduce
problem/solution gap
Problem
HLL Machine
Domain

4. Domain-Specific Languages
Problem
DSL HLL Machine
Domain
DSLs further reduce gap between problem domain and implementation

5. Example DSL:

6. paradigm: linguistic abstraction

7. making languages should be cheap

8. Compiler Ingredients
Syntax definition
★ concrete syntax
★ abstract syntax parser
Static semantics generators
meta-
★ error checking programming
★ name resolution libraries
★ type analysis meta-
programming
Model-to-model transformation
languages
★ express constructs in core language template
Code generation engines
★ translate core language models to implementation

14. Editor Services
syntactic editor services semantic editor services
• syntax highlighting • error marking
• syntax checking • reference resolving
• outline view • hover help
• bracket matching, insertion • mark occurrences
• automatic indentation • content completion
• syntax completion • refactoring
• ... • ...

15. Syntax definition
Static semantics
Model-to-model transformation Language
Code generation workbenches
Syntactic Editor Services [Fowler ’05]
Semantic Editor Services
how can we make these things cheaply?

16. Language Workbench:
integrated environment for language definition

17. Holy Grail of Software Language Definition
Automatically derive efficient,
scalable, incremental compiler +
usable IDE from high-level,
declarative language
definition

18. Stratego
SDF Eclipse
IMP

19. Stratego
on by
ni ti
SDF D efi ion Eclipse
ge
ua form at
ng ns
La ra
T
IMP

20. • <spoofax screenshot: lang def and lang use
in Eclipse workspace>

21. SDF:
Declarative
Syntax
Definition

23. A syntax definition
specifies a transformation
from text to trees

24. Syntax as Transformation

25. Syntax as Transformation

26. Syntax as Transformation
transform

27. Syntax as Transformation
transform

28. Syntax as Transformation
transform

29. Semantics
=
transformation

30. Error Marking is a
Transformation
transform

31. Error Marking is a
Transformation
transform

32. Error Marking is a
Transformation
transform
transform

33. Error Marking is a
Transformation
transform
transform

34. Error Marking is a
Transformation
transform
transform

35. Outline View is a
Transformation
transform

36. Hyperlinking is a
Transformation
m
sfor
tran

37. Content Completion is a
Transformation
orm
tsfa rm
ro nsf
tran

38. Code Generation is a
Transformation
transform

39. Need for single, unified language specification:
• Editor services
• Model transformations
• Code generation

40. Stratego:
Rewriting
Language

41. Rewrite rules
Strategies

42. Error Marking with Rewrite Rules

43. Error Marking with Rewrite Rules

44. Error Marking with Rewrite Rules
transform
Origin tracking
transform

45. Analysis with Rewrite Rules

46. Code Generation with Rewrite Rules

47. Conclusion
• Co-evolution of language and IDE
• Pure and declarative syntax definition
• Language definition by transformation
• www.spoofax.org: papers, tour, download