language parallax

This is mostly just a linky post:

I have avoided EMF, the Eclipse Modeling Framework, for many years for a couple of reasons. 1) It always seemed too tied to UML or XML in the class of languages it was capable of describing, and 2) It always seemed like it wanted to be at the center of the universe (the “model-driven” vs. “model-synchronized” distinction). I think both were true, but I also think both might be changing.

I don’t fully understand the relationship between EMF and ATL, but I’m starting all of this with ATL and working outward. The first piece of information I had that convinced me that it was worth spending time with was this list of ATL transformations for quite a few languages (java, sql, xml-based, and many others).

I’m attempting to write transformations for all the language in my web application platform, as well as my DSL. After that I’ll be looking at how those transformations can be bound (more on that later) and how they work the with the dsl->platform projection. I expect I’ll be tempted to look at AMW. From the outset, the draw is that these mappings can be inverted. I don’t know exactly what this means in terms of AMW.

This is all closely related to an extended abstract I just submitted. I’m going to hold off putting that online for a bit and just occasionally post concrete, related ideas until that paper is ready for a wider audience.