Domain-specific languages: A systematic mapping study

Abstract

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) assist a software developer (or end-user) in writing a program using idioms that are similar to the abstractions found in a specific problem domain. Indeed, the enhanced software productivity and reliability benefits that have been reported from DSL usage are hard to ignore and DSLs are flourishing. However, tool support for DSLs is lacking when compared to the capabilities provided for standard General-Purpose Languages (GPLs). For example, support for unit testing of a DSL program, as well as DSL debuggers, are rare. A Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) has been performed to better understand the DSL research field, identify research trends, and any possible open issues. In this talk I will first introduce DSLs by discussing when and how to develop DSLs, then results from SMS will be presented along with open DSL problems such as lacking tool support for DSLs and difficulties in combining DSLs.