Automated software development with XML and the Java∗ language

In software development with domain-specific languages (DSLs), one defines a requirements language for an application domain and then develops a compiler to generate an implementation from a requirements document. Because DSLs and DSL compilers are expensive to develop, DSLs are seen as cost effective only when many products of the same domain will be developed. In this paper, we show how the cost of DSL design and DSL compiler development can be reduced by defining DSLs as Extensible-Markup-Language (XML) dialects and by developing DSL compilers using commercial XML tools and the Java, ∗ language. This approach is illustrated through the Call View Data Language (CDL), a new DSL that generates provisioning support code and database table definitions for Lucent Technologies' 7R/E™ Network Feature Server.