Extensibility Of Domain-Specific Languages: A Case Study of an Industrial DSL

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) are software languages made for a certain domain. They provide an interface for domain experts to write expressive, yet readable code. One major disadvantage of designing and developing DSLs is the cost of maintenance and evolution of the language. A DSL needs to evolve to reflect changes in the domain it represents, to provide new functionality, and to address end-user demands. Software language engineering is a developing discipline and systematic techniques as well as measurements are presently lacking. This thesis aims to outline and address this gap, starting with the need for more objective ways to evaluate languages and arriving at a set of extension guidelines for an industrial DSL. A case study is performed on a DSL from the industry to learn about the challenges faced in practice while developing domain-specific languages and to provide tangible examples of how to procure relevant extension guidelines for domain-specific languages.