Chapter 2. Using Domain-Specific Languages

After going through the examples in the last chapter, you should now have a good feel for what a DSL is, even though I haven’t given any general definition yet. (You can find some more examples in “A Zoo of DSLs,” p. 147.) Now I’ll move on to that definition and discuss the benefits and problems of DSLs. I want to do this early on to provide some context before I start talking about implementing them in the next chapter.

2.1 Defining Domain-Specific Languages

“Domain-specific language” is a useful term and concept, but one that has very blurred boundaries. Some things are clearly DSLs, but others can be argued one way or the other. The term has also been around for a while and, like most things in ...

Get Domain Specific Languages now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.