CAREER:Type Systems and Next Generation Tools for Scripting Language Extension Programming

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

0237835 David Beazley Univ of Chicago Scripting languages are an increasingly important part of many software projects. A key feature of scripting languages is that they can be integrated with existing programs, typically written in C or C++. This integration of languages, commonly known as extension programming, is often achieved through the use of automatic code generation tools. Unfortunately, the development of these tools has been relatively ad-hoc and uncoordinated. The goal of this project is to provide a more formal foundation for extension programming by recasting the problem in terms of type systems. This foundation will then be used to expand the scope of extension programming tools to include software reliability mechanisms such as contracts. Finally, the research will investigate support tools such as mixed-language debuggers. The research will be conducted in the context of the SWIG project--an extension programming system already used by thousands of programmers in industry, government, and academia. As a result, the work will directly impact these users by pushing the extension building problem in new directions. Moreover, the research aims to bridge the practice of extension programming to more formal aspects of programming languages, software architecture, and software engineering.