ITR: Types for XML

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

The project aims to improve the robustness of XML-based software systems using static typing. The primary goal is the design, formal analysis, and implementation of a new programming language called Xtatic-- a lightweight and completely inter-operatable extension of a mainstream object-oriented language, with native support for statically checked XLM processing. The key technology underlying the project is REGULAR EXPRESSION TYPES. The basic constructors of regular expression types ( union, concatenation, repetition, etc.) are similiar to those of existing XML schema formalisms. In a language with regular expression types, however, XML trees become built-in values of the language and the static analysis of the shapes of built-in value of the language and the static analysis of the shapes of trees that may appear at run time ( as values of variables, parameters to methods, result of complex expressions, or structued messages sent across the network)becomes part of the ordinary work of typechecking.