Embedding DSLs into GPLs: A grammatical inference approach

Abstract

Embedding of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) into General-Purpose Languages (GPLs) is often used to express domain-specific problems using the domain's natural syntax inside GPL programs. It speeds up the development process, programs are more self-explanatory and repeating tasks are easier to handle. End-users or domain experts know what the desired language syntax would look like, but do not know how to write a grammar and language processing tools. Grammatical inference can be used for grammar extraction from input examples. A memetic algorithm for grammatical inference, named MAGIc, was implemented to extract grammar from DSL examples. In this work MAGIc is extended with embedding the inferred DSL into existing GPL grammar. Additionally, negative examples were also incorporated into the inference process. From the results it can be concluded that MAGIc is successful for DSL embedding and that the inference process is improved with use of negative examples.