Automated multi-language artifact binding and rename refactoring between Java and DSLs used by Java frameworks

Abstract

Developing non-trivial software applications involves using multiple programming languages. Although each language is used to describe a particular aspect of the system, artifacts defined inside those languages reference each other across language boundaries; such references are often only resolved at runtime. However, it is important for developers to be aware of these references during development time for programming understanding, bug prevention, and refactoring. In this work, we report on a) an approach and tool for automatically identifying multi-language relevant artifacts, finding references between artifacts in different languages, and (rename-) refactoring them, and b) on an experimental evaluation of the approach on seven open-source case studies which use a total of six languages found in three frameworks. As our main result, we provide insights into the incidence of multi-language bindings in the case studies as well as the feasibility of automated multi-language rename refactorings. © 2014 Springer-Verlag.