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research-article

Languages as libraries

Authors:

Sam Tobin-Hochstadt,

Vincent St-Amour,

Ryan Culpepper,

Matthias FelleisenAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 46, Issue 6

Pages 132 - 141

https://doi.org/10.1145/1993316.1993514

Published: 04 June 2011 Publication History

Abstract

Programming language design benefits from constructs for extending the syntax and semantics of a host language. While C's string-based macros empower programmers to introduce notational shorthands, the parser-level macros of Lisp encourage experimentation with domain-specific languages. The Scheme programming language improves on Lisp with macros that respect lexical scope.

The design of Racket---a descendant of Scheme---goes even further with the introduction of a full-fledged interface to the static semantics of the language. A Racket extension programmer can thus add constructs that are indistinguishable from "native" notation, large and complex embedded domain-specific languages, and even optimizing transformations for the compiler backend. This power to experiment with language design has been used to create a series of sub-languages for programming with first-class classes and modules, numerous languages for implementing the Racket system, and the creation of a complete and fully integrated typed sister language to Racket's untyped base language.

This paper explains Racket's language extension API via an implementation of a small typed sister language. The new language provides a rich type system that accommodates the idioms of untyped Racket. Furthermore, modules in this typed language can safely exchange values with untyped modules. Last but not least, the implementation includes a type-based optimizer that achieves promising speedups. Although these extensions are complex, their Racket implementation is just a library, like any other library, requiring no changes to the Racket implementation.

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Cited By

Trancón y Widemann BLepper MErtl MKirsch C(2024)Imagine There’s No Source Code: Replay Diagnostic Location Information in Dynamic EDSL Meta-programmingProceedings of the 21st ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Managed Programming Languages and Runtimes10.1145/3679007.3685061(48-54)Online publication date: 13-Sep-2024
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Moy CDimoulas CFelleisen M(2024)Effectful Software ContractsProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36329308:POPL(2639-2666)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632930
Flatt MAllred TAngle NDe Gabrielle SFindler RFirth JGopinathan KGreenman BKasivajhula SKnauth AMcCarthy JPhillips SPorncharoenwase SSøgaard JTobin-Hochstadt S(2023)Rhombus: A New Spin on Macros without All the ParenthesesProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36228187:OOPSLA2(574-603)Online publication date: 16-Oct-2023
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Index Terms

Languages as libraries
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. Compilers
    2. General programming languages
      1. Language features

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGPLAN Notices

ACM SIGPLAN Notices Volume 46, Issue 6

PLDI '11

June 2011

652 pages

ISSN:0362-1340

EISSN:1558-1160

DOI:10.1145/1993316

Issue’s Table of Contents

PLDI '11: Proceedings of the 32nd ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation
June 2011
668 pages
ISBN:9781450306638
DOI:10.1145/1993498
General Chair:
Mary Hall
University of Utah
,
Program Chair:
David Padua
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Copyright © 2011 ACM.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 04 June 2011

Published in SIGPLAN Volume 46, Issue 6

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Cited By

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3679007.3685061
Moy CDimoulas CFelleisen M(2024)Effectful Software ContractsProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36329308:POPL(2639-2666)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632930
Flatt MAllred TAngle NDe Gabrielle SFindler RFirth JGopinathan KGreenman BKasivajhula SKnauth AMcCarthy JPhillips SPorncharoenwase SSøgaard JTobin-Hochstadt S(2023)Rhombus: A New Spin on Macros without All the ParenthesesProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36228187:OOPSLA2(574-603)Online publication date: 16-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3622818
Stucki NBrachthäuser JOdersky MTilevich EDe Roover C(2021)Multi-stage programming with generative and analytical macrosProceedings of the 20th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Generative Programming: Concepts and Experiences10.1145/3486609.3487203(110-122)Online publication date: 17-Oct-2021
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Trancón y Widemann BLepper MKuchen HSinger J(2021)LLJava live at the loop: a case for heteroiconic staged meta-programmingProceedings of the 18th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Managed Programming Languages and Runtimes10.1145/3475738.3480942(113-126)Online publication date: 29-Sep-2021
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Shaikhha AJovanovic VKoch CSchaefer IReichenbach CStorm T(2019)Compiler generation for performance-oriented embedded DSLs (short paper)Proceedings of the 18th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Generative Programming: Concepts and Experiences10.1145/3357765.3359520(94-101)Online publication date: 21-Oct-2019
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Strömbäck FPearce DMayerhofer TSteimann F(2018)Storm: a language platform for interacting and extensible languages (tool demo)Proceedings of the 11th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering10.1145/3276604.3276982(60-64)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2018
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Butting ADalibor MLeonhardt GRumpe BWortmann APearce DMayerhofer TSteimann F(2018)Deriving fluent internal domain-specific languages from grammarsProceedings of the 11th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering10.1145/3276604.3276621(187-199)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2018
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Campbell JCraig M(2018)Drop-In Help CentresProceedings of the 23rd Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education10.1145/3209635.3209642(1-6)Online publication date: 4-May-2018
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