Modular Attribute Grammars

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Attribute grammars provide a formal declarative notation for describing the semantics and translation of programming languages. Describing any real programming language is a significant software engineering challenge. From a software engineering viewpoint, current notations for attribute grammars have two flaws: tedious repetition of essentially the same attribute computations is inevitable, and the various components of the description cannot be decomposed into modules - they must be merged (and hence closely coupled) with the syntax specification. This paper describes a tool that generates attribute grammars from pattern-oriented specifications. These specifications can be grouped according to the separation of concerns arising from individual aspects of the compilation process. Implementation and use of the attribute grammar generate MAGGIE is described.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: