Should MPS (metaprogramming language) be studied?

Question

Another project from Jetbrains, the new Chris Charisma tracker was written entirely in MPS . Is the concept useful / practical, or is it too soon?

Answer 1

MPS is not only DSL for Java. It is actually an angostic language. You can generate your language into any other language supported by MPS. We support Java, XML, and plain text (as a last resort) out of the box in MPS 1.1. Probably in a future version we will provide other languages ​​such as javascript, css, etc.

One of the key features of MPS that is not available in other tools is the ability to create languages. You can create several language extensions and compose them in the way you want. For example, one vendor may implement a language for its database, and another may use a language for financial calculations. They will work well together and you will not have any problems, such as ambiguities, etc.

Answer 2

Man. In my opinion, this is great. It looks like Java to steroids, plus DSL-s. Do not think about it in DSL terms only. Think fully, Turing-complete, including the Java generation out of the box. It is similar to Java 8 + "Common Lisp", to steroids, without the problems of text syntax. For me it looks like the future. I put my heart, mind and soul into it :).

If you are looking for something “ahead of your time”, but it’s practical to use it very close to current technologies, then MPS!

Answer 3

I find MPS worth a look. An open source tool and very reliable. The ideas implemented in MPS are extremely effective and solve a number of problems that have been with us since the very beginning of programming languages ​​(most importantly, the language). The quality of the documentation was a problem for beginners, but now you can also read this new book: http://books.campagnelab.org/ (disclaimer: I am the author of the book, but I am not the author of MPS).

Answer 4

This is not so “too early,” but rather the fact that this development methodology is itself quite complex. The cost-benefit ratio for MPS (and cost, that is, distribution time) largely depends on the type of project to which you apply it. If you have a domain that can benefit greatly from DSL (like with me, this is project management), then go!

Answer 5

This seems to be DSL for Java. Why not explore it yourself? If it just generates Java source files, I see no reason not to give it a crack if it interests you, and there is no rush in the project.