A SOA Approach for Domain-Specific Language Implementation

Although there have been many benefits of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) reported from both academia and industry, implementation of DSLs continue to face challenges with respect to frequent evolution of both syntax and semantics. Techniques for implementing DSLs also lack interoperable capabilities among base languages and limited tool support. Such challenges result in increasing DSL development cost and constrain DSL adoption opportunities. This paper introduces a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach to address such problems. The approach utilizes WSDL to perform lexical and syntax analysis. Web services are used to define the semantics of a DSL, and WS-BPEL is then used to specify a DSL program. We present two case studies representing different DSL categories to show the feasibility of SOA-based DSL implementation. The case studies demonstrate the potential for easing the burden of DSL evolution and offering interoperability and tool support. Improved modularization and removal of tokenization/parsing are two additional advantages. Discussion and comparison among interpreter-based, model-driven and SOA-based DSL implementations are provided, which may raise more research interests in this area.