This book’s techniques may be utilized with most modern object-oriented languages; the author provides numerous examples in Java and C#, as well as selected examples in Ruby. Wherever possible, chapters are organized to be self-standing, and most reference topics are presented in a familiar patterns format.

Armed with this wide-ranging book, developers will have the knowledge they need to make important decisions about DSLs—and, where appropriate, gain the significant technical and business benefits they offer.

The topics covered include:

•      How DSLs compare to frameworks and libraries, and when those alternatives are sufficient

•      Using parsers and parser generators, and parsing external DSLs

•      Understanding, comparing, and choosing DSL language constructs

•      Determining whether to use code generation, and comparing code generation strategies

•      Previewing new language workbench tools for creating DSLs