Lambda the Ultimate

inactiveTopic XSLT, Perl, Haskell, & a word on language design
started 1/15/2002; 12:14:32 PM - last post 1/15/2002; 12:29:07 PM
Ehud Lamm - XSLT, Perl, Haskell, & a word on language design  blueArrow
1/15/2002; 12:14:32 PM (reads: 413, responses: 1)
XSLT, Perl, Haskell, & a word on language design
If there is a lesson to be learned, it's that the design of domain-specific languages is hard. The XSLT designers created a language that, while rich in domain-specific functionality, lacked much of the basic functionality necessary to make it genuinely suited for its intended purpose.

Domain specific language design, complaints about xslt, and haskell. (from the LtU discussion group).


Posted to general by Ehud Lamm on 1/15/02; 12:16:13 PM

Ehud Lamm - Re: XSLT, Perl, Haskell, & a word on language design  blueArrow
1/15/2002; 12:29:07 PM (reads: 434, responses: 0)
The idea that DSLs (aka "little languages") are problematic since they fail to include the programing facilites found in general purpose languages is not new. This is why Shivers wrote about Lambda, The Ultimate Little Language. The idea being to build little languages inside 'full' programming languages like Scheme.

This is also related to a recent discussion here about macros, since macros can be used for layering little languages.