10 December 2008, 17:21

JetBrains Meta Programming System aids the creation of domain-specific languages

Czech software vendor JetBrains, known for its IntelliJ Java development environment, has presented the beta version of a new IDE called Meta Programming System (MPS). It is designed to facilitate language-oriented programming.

The project aims at enabling developers to create new programming languages tailored to their specific requirements, or to add the required functionality to already existing programming languages. In addition, MPS reportedly enables programmers to develop domain-specific languages (DSLs) which allow users without a programming background to use the DSLs created with MPS.

MPS uses a generative approach: the languages are described at a higher level, and MPS generates compilable code in other languages, especially in Java. The IDE will become available free of charge, and a large part of its code is freely available under an Apache licence. A final version 1.0 has been scheduled for the first quarter of 2009.

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