Good resources for language design

Posted by Aaron Digulla on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Aaron Digulla
Published on 2012-03-20T09:30:25Z Indexed on 2012/03/20 11:38 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 339

Filed under:

language-design

|

dsl

|

xtext

There are lots of books about good web design, UI design, etc. With the advent of Xtext, it's very simple to write your own language. What are good books and resources about language design?

I'm not looking for a book about compiler building (like the dragon book) but something that answers:

How to create a grammar that is forgiving (like adding optional trailing commas)?
Which grammar patterns cause problems for users of a language?
How create a compact grammar without introducing ambiguities

© Programmers or respective owner

Related posts about language-design

From a language design perspective, if Javascript objects are simply associative arrays, then why ha

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I was reading about objects in O'Reilly Javascript Pocket Reference and the book made the following statement. An object is a compound data type that contains any number of properties. Javascript objects are associative arrays: they associate arbitrary data values with arbitrary names. From… >>> More
Language Design: Combining Gotos and Functions

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm designing and currently rethinking a low-level interpreted programming language with similarities to assembler. I very soon came across the functions/loops/gotos decision problem and thought that while loops like while and for would be too high-level and unfitting, gotos would be too low level… >>> More
Missing ideas in programming language design

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I wanted to try something new and so I designed some programming languages and wrote interpreters for them: A rather low-level, not very expressive language. (I didn't want to parse complex expressions right at the beginning) It featured: Variables (yay) Subroutines, with a call stack Basic… >>> More
New book in the style of Advanced Programming Language Design by R. A. Finkel [closed]

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I am currently researching visual programming language design for a university paper and came across Advanced Programming Language Design by Raphael A. Finkel from 1996. Other, older discussions in the same vein on Stackoverflow have mentioned Language Implementation Patterns by Terence Parr and… >>> More
C# language design pillars

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
In the article (http://www.artima.com/intv/nonvirtualP.html) Anders Hejlsberg mentioned that versioning is one of the pillars of C# language design. Does anybody know what are other pillars? >>> More

Related posts about dsl

Access Home Network Server via External Address (DSL vs Cable)

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
For the last few months, I've been using a server on my home network for basic backups and hosting some small websites. Up until this past week, I've been using Comcast (cable) as an ISP and now that I've moved into an apartment, I'm using AT&T. (DSL) I've set up dynamic DNS and I can verify… >>> More
Access Home Network Server via External Address (DSL vs Cable)

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
For the last few months, I've been using a server on my home network for basic backups and hosting some small websites. Up until this past week, I've been using Comcast (cable) as an ISP and now that I've moved into an apartment, I'm using AT&T. (DSL) I've set up dynamic DNS and I can verify… >>> More
DSL connection dropping when starting game

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
New connection set up last week - have called tech support, signal fine, sending out tech guy tomorrow - however i cant make sense of this using Vista, 2wire connection 6mb ATT conn, wireless, i can browse website, stream video from my PC wirelessly to my xbox, watch Hulu in high res, connection… >>> More
Ruby DSL experiences ?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, I don't know anything in Ruby, but i'm pretty interested in DSLs. And DSL seems to be a buzz word for you community. Do you actually implement DSLs in Ruby for your own purposes ? If so, how complex and how dedicated are they ? i've seen this question here, but i'm more interested in your… >>> More
Microsoft Visual Studio SDK DSL Tools - Any serious takers?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
We are considering Microsoft DSL toolkit for creating some abstract designers. I already did some POCs, but would like to get some opinions on the same. Any one here to share their experiences working with Microsoft DSL Toolkit and T4? Also, any pointers to open source DSL projects will help - Eg… >>> More