Hi Joe
Am 07.10.2009, 17:26 Uhr, schrieb Joe Fredette
Let me add to this, as I've used the term "DSL" without (*gasp*) fully understanding it before.
Welcome to the club then! :)
In addition to "What is a DSL", I'd like to ask:
"How is a DSL different from an API?" -- in the sense that an API is a set of, say, combinators to filter email + a monad in which to combine them. Or even the API in the more traditional sense of the set of exposed operations on a given type. Is an API a kind of DSL? A kind of Embedded DSL?
Also,
"What is the difference between an EDSL and a DSL?" -- I've got a vague intuition of the difference, but am unsure how to particularly delineate them.
Well that part I think I can answer. An EDSL is when you don't start from scratch. IE. when you do not, let's say build a compiler that parses a String and then eventually "executes" it. Rather you define the "Terms", ie. primitive Terms (Terminals) and Non-Terminals with the means of the "host" language (Haskell in my case).
Also, any good introductory papers/books/other resources on DSLs and how to design, build and use them would be _lovely_.
Well as a book I could recommend Paul Hudaks "School of Expression". The way he abstracts is by means of using a DSL. He assembles objects, Geometrics Regions, Triangles, circles, squares etc. combines them with the help of functions and *later* evaluates them. Now he is definatly using a DSL here, but that is by no means the only way of implementing the abstract through a DSL. Once that has sunk in I suggest papers from Oleg and others on the subject, but to get started SOE would be a good idea. Günther