Description

Book Synopsis
Martin Fowler is Chief Scientist at ThoughtWorks. He describes himself as an author, speaker, consultant, and general loudmouth on software development. I concentrate on designing enterprise softwarelooking at what makes a good design and what practices are needed to come up with good design. Fowler's books include Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture; UML Distilled, Third Edition; and (with Kent Beck, John Brant, and William Opdyke) Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code. All are published by Addison-Wesley.

Table of Contents
Preface xix

Part I: Narratives 1

Chapter 1: An Introductory Example 3

Gothic Security 3

The State Machine Model 5

Programming Miss Grant’s Controller 9

Languages and Semantic Model 16

Using Code Generation 19

Using Language Workbenches 22

Visualization 24

Chapter 2: Using Domain-Specific Languages 27

Defining Domain-Specific Languages 27

Why Use a DSL? 33

Problems with DSLs 36

Wider Language Processing 39

DSL Lifecycle 40

What Makes a Good DSL Design? 42

Chapter 3: Implementing DSLs 43

Architecture of DSL Processing 43

The Workings of a Parser 47

Grammars, Syntax, and Semantics 49

Parsing Data 50

Macros 52

Chapter 4: Implementing an Internal DSL 67

Fluent and Command-Query APIs 68

The Need for a Parsing Layer 71

Using Functions 72

Literal Collections 77

Using Grammars to Choose Internal Elements 79

Closures 80

Parse Tree Manipulation 82

Annotation 84

Literal Extension 85

Reducing the Syntactic Noise 85

Dynamic Reception 86

Providing Some Type Checking 87

Chapter 5: Implementing an External DSL 89

Syntactic Analysis Strategy 89

Output Production Strategy 92

Parsing Concepts 94

Mixing-in Another Language 100

XML DSLs 101

Chapter 6: Choosing between Internal and External DSLs 105

Learning Curve 105

Cost of Building 106

Programmer Familiarity 107

Communication with Domain Experts 108

Mixing In the Host Language 108

Strong Expressiveness Boundary 109

Runtime Configuration 110

Sliding into Generality 110

Composing DSLs 111

Summing Up 111

Chapter 7: Alternative Computational Models 113

A Few Alternative Models 116

Chapter 8: Code Generation 121

Choosing What to Generate 122

How to Generate 124

Mixing Generated and Handwritten Code 126

Generating Readable Code 127

Preparse Code Generation 128

Further Reading 128

Chapter 9: Language Workbenches 129

Elements of Language Workbenches 130

Schema Definition Languages and Meta-Models 131

Source and Projectional Editing 136

Illustrative Programming 138

Tools Tour 140

Language Workbenches and CASE tools 141

Should You Use a Language Workbench? 142

Part II: Common Topics 145

Chapter 10: A Zoo of DSLs 147

Graphviz 147

JMock 149

CSS 150

Hibernate Query Language (HQL) 151

XAML 152

FIT 155

Make et al. 156

Chapter 11: Semantic Model 159

How It Works 159

When to Use It 162

The Introductory Example (Java) 163

Chapter 12: Symbol Table 165

How It Works 166

When to Use It 168

Further Reading 168

Dependency Network in an External DSL (Java and ANTLR) 168

Using Symbolic Keys in an Internal DSL (Ruby) 170

Using Enums for Statically Typed Symbols (Java) 172

Chapter 13: Context Variable 175

How It Works 175

When to Use It 176

Reading an INI File (C#) 176

Chapter 14: Construction Builder 179

How It Works 179

When to Use It 180

Building Simple Flight Data (C#) 180

Chapter 15: Macro 183

How It Works 184

When to Use It 192

Chapter 16: Notification 193

How It Works 194

When to Use It 194

A Very Simple Notification (C#) 194

Parsing Notification (Java) 195

Part III: External DSL Topics 199

Chapter 17: Delimiter-Directed Translation 201

How It Works 201

When to Use It 204

Frequent Customer Points (C#) 205

Parsing Nonautonomous Statements with Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 211

Chapter 18: Syntax-Directed Translation 219

How It Works 220

When to Use It 227

Further Reading 227

Chapter 19: BNF 229

How It Works 229

When to Use It 238

Chapter 20: Regex Table Lexer (by Rebecca Parsons) 239

How It Works 240

When to Use It 241

Lexing Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 241

Chapter 21: Recursive Descent Parser (by Rebecca Parsons) 245

How It Works 246

When to Use It 249

Further Reading 249

Recursive Descent and Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 250

Chapter 22: Parser Combinator (by Rebecca Parsons) 255

How It Works 256

When to Use It 261

Parser Combinators and Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 261

Chapter 23: Parser Generator 269

How It Works 269

When to Use It 272

Hello World (Java and ANTLR) 272

Chapter 24: Tree Construction 281

How It Works 281

When to Use It 284

Using ANTLR’s Tree Construction Syntax (Java and ANTLR) 284

Tree Construction Using Code Actions (Java and ANTLR) 292

Chapter 25: Embedded Translation 299

How It Works 299

When to Use It 300

Miss Grant’s Controller (Java and ANTLR) 300

Chapter 26: Embedded Interpretation 305

How It Works 305

When to Use It 306

A Calculator (ANTLR and Java) 306

Chapter 27: Foreign Code 309

How It Works 309

When to Use It 311

Embedding Dynamic Code (ANTLR, Java, and Javascript) 311

Chapter 28: Alternative Tokenization 319

How It Works 319

When to Use It 326

Chapter 29: Nested Operator Expression 327

How It Works 327

When to Use It 331

Chapter 30: Newline Separators 333

How It Works 333

When to Use It 335

Chapter 31: External DSL Miscellany 337

Syntactic Indentation 337

Modular Grammars 339

Part IV: Internal DSL Topics 341

Chapter 32: Expression Builder 343

How It Works 344

When to Use It 344

A Fluent Calendar with and without a Builder (Java) 345

Using Multiple Builders for the Calendar (Java) 348

Chapter 33: Function Sequence 351

How It Works 351

When to Use It 352

Simple Computer Configuration (Java) 352

Chapter 34: Nested Function 357

How It Works 357

When to Use It 359

The Simple Computer Configuration Example (Java) 360

Handling Multiple Different Arguments with Tokens (C#) 361

Using Subtype Tokens for IDE Support (Java) 363

Using Object Initializers (C#) 365

Recurring Events (C#) 366

Chapter 35: Method Chaining 373

How It Works 373

When to Use It 377

The Simple Computer Configuration Example (Java) 378

Chaining with Properties (C#) 381

Progressive Interfaces (C#) 382

Chapter 36: Object Scoping 385

How It Works 386

When to Use It 386

Security Codes (C#) 387

Using Instance Evaluation (Ruby) 392

Using an Instance Initializer (Java) 394

Chapter 37: Closure 397

How It Works 397

When to Use It 402

Chapter 38: Nested Closure 403

How It Works 403

When to Use It 405

Wrapping a Function Sequence in a Nested Closure (Ruby) 405

Simple C# Example (C#) 408

Using Method Chaining (Ruby) 409

Function Sequence with Explicit Closure Arguments (Ruby 411

Using Instance Evaluation (Ruby) 412

Chapter 39: Literal List 417

How It Works 417

When to Use It 417

Chapter 40: Literal Map 419

How It Works 419

When to Use It 420

The Computer Configuration Using Lists and Maps (Ruby) 420

Evolving to Greenspun Form (Ruby) 422

Chapter 41: Dynamic Reception 427

How It Works 428

When to Use It 429

Promotion Points Using Parsed Method Names (Ruby) 430

Promotion Points Using Chaining (Ruby) 434

Removing Quoting in the Secret Panel Controller (JRuby) 438

Chapter 42: Annotation 445

How It Works 446

When to Use It 449

Custom Syntax with Runtime Processing (Java) 449

Using a Class Method (Ruby) 451

Dynamic Code Generation (Ruby) 452

Chapter 43: Parse Tree Manipulation 455

How It Works 455

When to Use It 456

Generating IMAP Queries from C# Conditions (C#) 457

Chapter 44: Class Symbol Table 467

How It Works 468

When to Use It 469

Statically Typed Class Symbol Table (Java) 469

Chapter 45: Textual Polishing 477

How It Works 477

When to Use It 478

Polished Discount Rules (Ruby) 478

Chapter 46: Literal Extension 481

How It Works 481

When to Use It 482

Recipe Ingredients (C#) 483

Part V: Alternative Computational Models 485

Chapter 47: Adaptive Model 487

How It Works 488

When to Use It 492

Chapter 48: Decision Table 495

How It Works 495

When to Use It 497

Calculating the Fee for an Order (C#) 497

Chapter 49: Dependency Network 505

How It Works 506

When to Use It 508

Analyzing Potions (C#) 508

Chapter 50: Production Rule System 513

How It Works 514

When to Use It 517

Validations for club membership (C#) 517

Eligibility Rules: extending the club membership (C#) 521

Chapter 51: State Machine 527

How It Works 527

When to Use It 529

Secret Panel Controller (Java) 530

Part VI: Code Generation 531

Chapter 52: Transformer Generation 533

How It Works 533

When to Use It 535

Secret Panel Controller (Java generating C) 535

Chapter 53: Templated Generation 539

How It Works 539

When to Use It 541

Generating the Secret Panel State Machine with Nested Conditionals (Velocity and Java generating C) 541

Chapter 54: Embedment Helper 547

How It Works 548

When to Use It 549

Secret Panel States (Java and ANTLR) 549

Should a Helper Generate HTML? (Java and Velocity) 552

Chapter 55: Model-Aware Generation 555

How It Works 556

When to Use It 556

Secret Panel State Machine (C) 557

Loading the State Machine Dynamically (C) 564

Chapter 56: Model Ignorant Generation 567

How It Works 567

When to Use It 568

Secret Panel State Machine as Nested Conditionals (C) 568

Chapter 57: Generation Gap 571

How It Works 571

When to Use It 573

Generating Classes from a Data Schema (Java and a Little Ruby) 573

Bibliography 579

Index 581

DomainSpecific Languages

Product form

£44.49

Includes FREE delivery

Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Mon 2 Feb 2026.

A Hardback by Martin Fowler

Out of stock


    View other formats and editions of DomainSpecific Languages by Martin Fowler

    Publisher: Pearson Education (US)
    Publication Date: 30/09/2010
    ISBN13: 9780321712943, 978-0321712943
    ISBN10: 321712943

    Description

    Book Synopsis
    Martin Fowler is Chief Scientist at ThoughtWorks. He describes himself as an author, speaker, consultant, and general loudmouth on software development. I concentrate on designing enterprise softwarelooking at what makes a good design and what practices are needed to come up with good design. Fowler's books include Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture; UML Distilled, Third Edition; and (with Kent Beck, John Brant, and William Opdyke) Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code. All are published by Addison-Wesley.

    Table of Contents
    Preface xix

    Part I: Narratives 1

    Chapter 1: An Introductory Example 3

    Gothic Security 3

    The State Machine Model 5

    Programming Miss Grant’s Controller 9

    Languages and Semantic Model 16

    Using Code Generation 19

    Using Language Workbenches 22

    Visualization 24

    Chapter 2: Using Domain-Specific Languages 27

    Defining Domain-Specific Languages 27

    Why Use a DSL? 33

    Problems with DSLs 36

    Wider Language Processing 39

    DSL Lifecycle 40

    What Makes a Good DSL Design? 42

    Chapter 3: Implementing DSLs 43

    Architecture of DSL Processing 43

    The Workings of a Parser 47

    Grammars, Syntax, and Semantics 49

    Parsing Data 50

    Macros 52

    Chapter 4: Implementing an Internal DSL 67

    Fluent and Command-Query APIs 68

    The Need for a Parsing Layer 71

    Using Functions 72

    Literal Collections 77

    Using Grammars to Choose Internal Elements 79

    Closures 80

    Parse Tree Manipulation 82

    Annotation 84

    Literal Extension 85

    Reducing the Syntactic Noise 85

    Dynamic Reception 86

    Providing Some Type Checking 87

    Chapter 5: Implementing an External DSL 89

    Syntactic Analysis Strategy 89

    Output Production Strategy 92

    Parsing Concepts 94

    Mixing-in Another Language 100

    XML DSLs 101

    Chapter 6: Choosing between Internal and External DSLs 105

    Learning Curve 105

    Cost of Building 106

    Programmer Familiarity 107

    Communication with Domain Experts 108

    Mixing In the Host Language 108

    Strong Expressiveness Boundary 109

    Runtime Configuration 110

    Sliding into Generality 110

    Composing DSLs 111

    Summing Up 111

    Chapter 7: Alternative Computational Models 113

    A Few Alternative Models 116

    Chapter 8: Code Generation 121

    Choosing What to Generate 122

    How to Generate 124

    Mixing Generated and Handwritten Code 126

    Generating Readable Code 127

    Preparse Code Generation 128

    Further Reading 128

    Chapter 9: Language Workbenches 129

    Elements of Language Workbenches 130

    Schema Definition Languages and Meta-Models 131

    Source and Projectional Editing 136

    Illustrative Programming 138

    Tools Tour 140

    Language Workbenches and CASE tools 141

    Should You Use a Language Workbench? 142

    Part II: Common Topics 145

    Chapter 10: A Zoo of DSLs 147

    Graphviz 147

    JMock 149

    CSS 150

    Hibernate Query Language (HQL) 151

    XAML 152

    FIT 155

    Make et al. 156

    Chapter 11: Semantic Model 159

    How It Works 159

    When to Use It 162

    The Introductory Example (Java) 163

    Chapter 12: Symbol Table 165

    How It Works 166

    When to Use It 168

    Further Reading 168

    Dependency Network in an External DSL (Java and ANTLR) 168

    Using Symbolic Keys in an Internal DSL (Ruby) 170

    Using Enums for Statically Typed Symbols (Java) 172

    Chapter 13: Context Variable 175

    How It Works 175

    When to Use It 176

    Reading an INI File (C#) 176

    Chapter 14: Construction Builder 179

    How It Works 179

    When to Use It 180

    Building Simple Flight Data (C#) 180

    Chapter 15: Macro 183

    How It Works 184

    When to Use It 192

    Chapter 16: Notification 193

    How It Works 194

    When to Use It 194

    A Very Simple Notification (C#) 194

    Parsing Notification (Java) 195

    Part III: External DSL Topics 199

    Chapter 17: Delimiter-Directed Translation 201

    How It Works 201

    When to Use It 204

    Frequent Customer Points (C#) 205

    Parsing Nonautonomous Statements with Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 211

    Chapter 18: Syntax-Directed Translation 219

    How It Works 220

    When to Use It 227

    Further Reading 227

    Chapter 19: BNF 229

    How It Works 229

    When to Use It 238

    Chapter 20: Regex Table Lexer (by Rebecca Parsons) 239

    How It Works 240

    When to Use It 241

    Lexing Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 241

    Chapter 21: Recursive Descent Parser (by Rebecca Parsons) 245

    How It Works 246

    When to Use It 249

    Further Reading 249

    Recursive Descent and Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 250

    Chapter 22: Parser Combinator (by Rebecca Parsons) 255

    How It Works 256

    When to Use It 261

    Parser Combinators and Miss Grant’s Controller (Java) 261

    Chapter 23: Parser Generator 269

    How It Works 269

    When to Use It 272

    Hello World (Java and ANTLR) 272

    Chapter 24: Tree Construction 281

    How It Works 281

    When to Use It 284

    Using ANTLR’s Tree Construction Syntax (Java and ANTLR) 284

    Tree Construction Using Code Actions (Java and ANTLR) 292

    Chapter 25: Embedded Translation 299

    How It Works 299

    When to Use It 300

    Miss Grant’s Controller (Java and ANTLR) 300

    Chapter 26: Embedded Interpretation 305

    How It Works 305

    When to Use It 306

    A Calculator (ANTLR and Java) 306

    Chapter 27: Foreign Code 309

    How It Works 309

    When to Use It 311

    Embedding Dynamic Code (ANTLR, Java, and Javascript) 311

    Chapter 28: Alternative Tokenization 319

    How It Works 319

    When to Use It 326

    Chapter 29: Nested Operator Expression 327

    How It Works 327

    When to Use It 331

    Chapter 30: Newline Separators 333

    How It Works 333

    When to Use It 335

    Chapter 31: External DSL Miscellany 337

    Syntactic Indentation 337

    Modular Grammars 339

    Part IV: Internal DSL Topics 341

    Chapter 32: Expression Builder 343

    How It Works 344

    When to Use It 344

    A Fluent Calendar with and without a Builder (Java) 345

    Using Multiple Builders for the Calendar (Java) 348

    Chapter 33: Function Sequence 351

    How It Works 351

    When to Use It 352

    Simple Computer Configuration (Java) 352

    Chapter 34: Nested Function 357

    How It Works 357

    When to Use It 359

    The Simple Computer Configuration Example (Java) 360

    Handling Multiple Different Arguments with Tokens (C#) 361

    Using Subtype Tokens for IDE Support (Java) 363

    Using Object Initializers (C#) 365

    Recurring Events (C#) 366

    Chapter 35: Method Chaining 373

    How It Works 373

    When to Use It 377

    The Simple Computer Configuration Example (Java) 378

    Chaining with Properties (C#) 381

    Progressive Interfaces (C#) 382

    Chapter 36: Object Scoping 385

    How It Works 386

    When to Use It 386

    Security Codes (C#) 387

    Using Instance Evaluation (Ruby) 392

    Using an Instance Initializer (Java) 394

    Chapter 37: Closure 397

    How It Works 397

    When to Use It 402

    Chapter 38: Nested Closure 403

    How It Works 403

    When to Use It 405

    Wrapping a Function Sequence in a Nested Closure (Ruby) 405

    Simple C# Example (C#) 408

    Using Method Chaining (Ruby) 409

    Function Sequence with Explicit Closure Arguments (Ruby 411

    Using Instance Evaluation (Ruby) 412

    Chapter 39: Literal List 417

    How It Works 417

    When to Use It 417

    Chapter 40: Literal Map 419

    How It Works 419

    When to Use It 420

    The Computer Configuration Using Lists and Maps (Ruby) 420

    Evolving to Greenspun Form (Ruby) 422

    Chapter 41: Dynamic Reception 427

    How It Works 428

    When to Use It 429

    Promotion Points Using Parsed Method Names (Ruby) 430

    Promotion Points Using Chaining (Ruby) 434

    Removing Quoting in the Secret Panel Controller (JRuby) 438

    Chapter 42: Annotation 445

    How It Works 446

    When to Use It 449

    Custom Syntax with Runtime Processing (Java) 449

    Using a Class Method (Ruby) 451

    Dynamic Code Generation (Ruby) 452

    Chapter 43: Parse Tree Manipulation 455

    How It Works 455

    When to Use It 456

    Generating IMAP Queries from C# Conditions (C#) 457

    Chapter 44: Class Symbol Table 467

    How It Works 468

    When to Use It 469

    Statically Typed Class Symbol Table (Java) 469

    Chapter 45: Textual Polishing 477

    How It Works 477

    When to Use It 478

    Polished Discount Rules (Ruby) 478

    Chapter 46: Literal Extension 481

    How It Works 481

    When to Use It 482

    Recipe Ingredients (C#) 483

    Part V: Alternative Computational Models 485

    Chapter 47: Adaptive Model 487

    How It Works 488

    When to Use It 492

    Chapter 48: Decision Table 495

    How It Works 495

    When to Use It 497

    Calculating the Fee for an Order (C#) 497

    Chapter 49: Dependency Network 505

    How It Works 506

    When to Use It 508

    Analyzing Potions (C#) 508

    Chapter 50: Production Rule System 513

    How It Works 514

    When to Use It 517

    Validations for club membership (C#) 517

    Eligibility Rules: extending the club membership (C#) 521

    Chapter 51: State Machine 527

    How It Works 527

    When to Use It 529

    Secret Panel Controller (Java) 530

    Part VI: Code Generation 531

    Chapter 52: Transformer Generation 533

    How It Works 533

    When to Use It 535

    Secret Panel Controller (Java generating C) 535

    Chapter 53: Templated Generation 539

    How It Works 539

    When to Use It 541

    Generating the Secret Panel State Machine with Nested Conditionals (Velocity and Java generating C) 541

    Chapter 54: Embedment Helper 547

    How It Works 548

    When to Use It 549

    Secret Panel States (Java and ANTLR) 549

    Should a Helper Generate HTML? (Java and Velocity) 552

    Chapter 55: Model-Aware Generation 555

    How It Works 556

    When to Use It 556

    Secret Panel State Machine (C) 557

    Loading the State Machine Dynamically (C) 564

    Chapter 56: Model Ignorant Generation 567

    How It Works 567

    When to Use It 568

    Secret Panel State Machine as Nested Conditionals (C) 568

    Chapter 57: Generation Gap 571

    How It Works 571

    When to Use It 573

    Generating Classes from a Data Schema (Java and a Little Ruby) 573

    Bibliography 579

    Index 581

    Recently viewed products

    © 2026 Book Curl

      • American Express
      • Apple Pay
      • Diners Club
      • Discover
      • Google Pay
      • Maestro
      • Mastercard
      • PayPal
      • Shop Pay
      • Union Pay
      • Visa

      Login

      Forgot your password?

      Don't have an account yet?
      Create account