IBM Software Group EGL Simplify Innovation EGL Open

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Agenda § Motivation for EGL § Motivation for an Open EGL § What is “Open EGL” § Scenarios

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Motivation for EGL - Productivity § Programming languages exist to make the expensive task of writing and maintaining software more productive § New programming languages arise when target environments become too complex 4 C for Web programming not good enough – PHP arises § Multi-tiered enterprise application environments are too complex 4 Leads to low productivity 4 High project failure rates

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Motivation for EGL - Abstraction § Abstraction – key to productivity § Traditional 3 GLs are an abstraction of a single machine through language syntax 4 Compilers generate code (assembler) to one or more machine types § Traditional 4 GLs added language syntax for abstracting things like database IO § OO languages added Inheritance and Interface implementation to create Framework abstractions 4 Compiler does not change to incorporate new abstractions 4 Overshadowed 4 GL approach of language syntax § EGL brings back code generation as an addition tool for handling abstractions – without forcing syntax changes

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Extensible Abstractions - Frameworks § Very powerful concept for creating abstractions § However they are tied to the technology they are implemented in 4 i. e. J 2 EE is tied to Java VM § Modern distributed applications often must cover: 4 Browser: Javascript/XML/JSON/etc 4 Application Server: J 2 EE/. NET/etc 4 Mainframe: CICS/IMS/COBOL/etc § Frameworks exist at each level but are all vastly different § Thus frameworks in a single technology cannot abstract all these areas

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Extensible Abstractions - Metadata § Metadata allows concepts to be added without forcing specific implementations § Common semantics modeled, i. e. 4 CRUD operations on database 4 Remote Invocation 4 UI input validation § Same semantics can apply across runtimes and frameworks § Compiler/Generator maps semantic concepts to given runtime § Metadata supplies the specifics

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Extensible Metadata – SQLRecord Example // A Record type definition mapped to a database table Record Order type SQLRecord { table. Names = [“ORDER”], key. Items=[“order. ID”] } Have you ever wondered what these actually are and where they come from? order. ID Order. ID { column. Name=“ORDERID” }; date. Order. Placed date { columname=“CREATDTE” }; total. Value money? ; end

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Extensible Metadata - Annotation Types § All annotations are instances of an annotation type § An Annotation Type is a stereotyped Record definition Record Column. Name type Annotation {. . } value string; end … Data. Item SSN char(9){ column. Name=“DB_SSN”, … } end

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Extensible Metadata - Stereotypes § Stereotypes are Annotation Types that have been annotated with the @Stereotype annotation Record SQLRecord type Annotation { targets = [ Element. Kind. Record ] @Stereotype{ member. Annotations = [Column, Is. Read. Only, …] } } table. Names string[][]; . . End

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL How is EGL different? § EGL is a meta language 4 Basic imperative language 4 Metadata definition facility 4 Extensible IO statements: ADD, GET, DELETE, etc § Metadata on operands drives appropriate mapping to runtime by generator § Generators transform basic language semantics + metadata semantics to various languages/runtimes 4 IF, ASSIGN, etc. all mapped to appropriate target language 4 Stereotypes like JSFHandler, RUIHandler drive code generator to map target code to particular frameworks 4 Stereotypes like SQLRecord, VSAMRecord drive generation of IO operations to particular IO technologies § Allows EGL to create abstractions across all tiers of an enterprise application § Takes advantage of standard runtime infrastructures and frameworks instead of adding new ones 4 Simpler and less risky than waiting for standards and replacing working systems with new “standard” runtime infrastructure

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Transformation Process RBD IBM owned EGL Source (. egl) Transform Process IR Compiler IR Model (. ir) EGL 2 Java Code EGL 2 CBLi COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLcics COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLims COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLbat COBOL Code

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Agenda § Motivation for EGL § Motivation for an Open EGL § What is “Open EGL” § Scenarios

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Common Misconceptions of EGL § “EGL is just another 4 GL” § “Real programmers don’t do code generation” § “EGL is proprietary” § History does gives examples of why each of these can be a problem § EGL is formulated so as to not repeat these problems

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL - not your father’s 4 GL § What is a 4 GL? 4 Old term used to describe languages that evolved after 3 GL 4 Same language syntax approach to abstraction as 3 GL § Traditional 4 GL disadvantages 4 Proprietary § dependence on single vendor § Added value created only by vendor 4 OO languages provide similar productivity and are freely extensible § However – frameworks are just as proprietary as language § Frameworks can be overly complex themselves § Open EGL is meant to address these issues 4 Proprietary – multiple vendor implementations allowed 4 Extensible abstractions that go beyond Framework § Extensible metadata instead of closed syntax to add new abstractions § Compiler code generation as added approach map abstractions to runtime § Compiler maps to existing standard frameworks and runtimes

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL – not your father’s code generator § All programming languages are code generators 4 Assembler generates to machine or byte code 4 3 GLs generate to assembler § Each level of abstraction that is generated introduces some inefficiency compared to hand written code at the lower level 4 Mitigated if jump between levels is not too large 4 Productivity benefits usually outweigh the slight inefficiencies § Code generation from high level models can be inefficient 4 CASE tools often produced inefficient code – this is the bad rap on code generators 4 Not enough detail in high level models to produce optimal code § EGL language semantics provide necessary detail to provide efficient code generation 4 Just as with 3 GL assembler code generation

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Proprietary EGL § EGL system is closed today 4 No public mechanism to add new meta data types 4 No public mechanism to extend code generation to use new metadata types § Vendor lock-in 4 Trusting IBM or not is not the main problem 4 IBM being the sole point where value is added is too slow § Enablement of community 4 Community of users is not enough 4 Must enable 3 rd parties to add value 4 Value is not just new functionality but diversity of implementation to common function

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Enablement Scenarios § Additional EGL Tools 4 Like Java tools enabled via Eclipse JDT 4 This is really “Open RBD” § Additional annotations used to drive tools 4 Tags for linking code changes to Problem Reports 4 Domain specific tags for Google style searches § Additional metadata to drive code generation 4 New database access types – e. g. LDAP database 4 New programming paradigms – Event programming § Concepts: Process, State, Transition, etc defined as metadata types § Generator maps application to the various event runtimes: WAS, CICS, etc § Generator extension 4 New metadata exploited through plug-ins to an existing generator § Completely new generators 4 e. g. C code generator targeting Unix environments

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Event Programming Paradigm Example § Use Extended Finite State Machine (EFSM) as basic concept 4 Can work well for modeling asynchronous business processes § The format for representing these elements is always a combination of: 4 Type declaration with Stereotype 4 Field declaration with annotations 4 Function declarations § Similar to UML which is mostly variations on UML Class 4 “Lightweight” extension using on UML Stereotypes and Tags § Different from UML in that you get to explicitly write code within the functions

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Example of System Design Language (SDL)

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Metadata types that extend EGL EFSM Concepts

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL SDL Example modeled in EGL

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Open EGL: Motivation Summary § Code generation is a necessary technique for dealing with complexity 4 Frameworks are tied to particular technologies § Pluggable code generators are necessary for widespread adoption of this technique 4 Anyone could write a framework without changing the language 4 Should be likewise for extending code generators § A closed system as EGL is today inhibits general adoption of this technique

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Agenda § Motivation for EGL § Motivation for an Open EGL § What is “Open EGL” § Scenarios

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL “Open” has various dimensions § Specifications: 4 Allows creation of independent implementations § Framework API: 4 Allows access to a given implementation without surfacing the internals of that implementation § Open source 4 Complete access to source of a given implementation § Open EGL will be some combination of these – e. g. 4 Specification of EGL model definition and semantics 4 Public API to current internal IR model 4 Open Source implementation of a code generator

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Use Cases for Open EGL § Two initial areas of exploitation 4 Front end tooling § Compile, edit, debug § Management of code and development process 4 Back end tooling § Complete implementations of a code generator § Extension of existing generators § Common element - EGL Model § EGL Model first element to be opened

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Open EGL Model Approaches § Option 1: Open existing EGL implementation 4 Framework API to EGL IR model 4 Open source of at least one existing code generator § Option 2: Transform internal IR model into existing open source framework 4 Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) 4 Eclipse Generative Modeling Tools (GMT) § Some of both are probably necessary 4 IR model API made public 4 Code generator framework based on GMT tools § Fold into existing community § Can lead to EGL being leveraged in Model Driven Development scenarios

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Option 1: Open current EGL model & generator § Public API to IR model useful in many front end tooling scenarios 4 i. e. Code Analysis tools § Open sourcing an existing generator 4 Pro: Community involved in care and feeding of § Code generator § Associated runtime framework 4 Con: Current generators not built to be plug-in extensible § Independent generator extensions not possible – i. e. LDAP access cannot be added without updating the existing implementation § Limits viability as everyone has to agree on the extensions

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL RBD IBM owned Spec/API Open Source Cloned Open EGL: Option 1 EGL Source (. egl) Transform Process IR Compiler IR Model (. ir) EGL 2 Java Code EGL 2 CBLi COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLcics COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLims COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLbat COBOL Code EGL 2 XYZ

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Option 2: Transform model to open framework § Leverage Eclipse Generative Modeling Tools (GMT) 4 EMF (Eclipse Modeling Framework) § EGL modeled itself as an Ecore model – like UML but much simpler 4 EGL code transformed into instances of the model § Current EGL IRs transformed into Ecore model using EGL 2 Ecore utility 4 Model to Text transformation languages § Eclipse implementations of full IDE – Projects, editors, debugger § Build extensible generation framework based on these existing open source tools 4 Better support for extensible generator scenarios 4 Existing community

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Open EGL: Option 2 RBD IBM owned Spec/API Open Source RBD Plug-in EGL Source (. egl) Transform Process IR Compiler IR Model (. ir) EGL 2 Ecore EGL 2 Java Code EGL 2 CBLi COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLcics COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLims COBOL Code EGL 2 CBLbat COBOL Code Ecore 2 XYZ Code

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL What is Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) § Standard infrastructure for defining and manipulating models in Eclipse tools § Example models currently used in various products: 4 Database tools § SQL objects: Tables, SQL statements, etc 4 UML tools § UML 2 model defined with EMF 4 Web Services Tools § WSDL, XMLSchema, etc. all manipulated by tools on models defined through EMF § Large existing community that knows how to work with EMF

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL EMF Meta Model - Ecore § Ecore is a model used to create other models – it is a “meta model” § Ecore itself is an instance of the Ecore model 4 i. e. all Ecore classes are instances of EClass

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Ecore defines itself EClass instances EAnnotation instance EOperation instance EAttribute instances EReference instances

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Ecore. Object – EGL bridge to Ecore § External. Type definitions that represent Ecore types § Used to: 4 Map to existing Ecore types 4 Create new Ecore types

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Structure as Ecore Extensions § Basic EGL meta model defined as extensions to Ecore model § EGL is already close to Ecore in terms of its structure § EGL adds model for: 4 Statements 4 Expressions 4 Metadata types

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL 2 Ecore conversion utility § EGL 2 Ecore utility converts EGL IRs into Ecore models § All EGL definitions represent: 4 Ecore classes: EAttribute, EOperation, etc 4 EGL model definitions: Function, Statement, Expression, etc. 4 Instances of EGL model: Customer Record is an instance of EGLRecord § EGL Package correlates to an Ecore EPackage § All EGL parts will exist in an EPackage § All parts in an EGL package go into a single file containing a single EPackage instance

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Core model • Ecore model that models core set of EGL language elements • Circled elements are classes that model of some EGL statements • User written programs create instances of this model

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Core is not all of EGL § Core is a subset of EGL as it exists today 4 Defines basic elements of EGL model 4 Extension mechanism § EGL today = Core + Extensions § Extension mechanism focused in three areas: 4 Part types – e. g. EGLProgram 4 Native types – e. g. NUMC 4 Metadata types – e. g. SQLRecord § Example elements not in Core 4 Part types: Program, Table, Service 4 Native types: BIN, NUM, DECIMAL, etc 4 Stereotypes: SQLRecord, VSAMRecord, etc

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Example EGL Program

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Eclipse Generative Modeling Tools (GMT) § Once we have a model of EGL code we need standard technology to transform it into executable form § There are typically three phases of this process: 4 Validate the model against some set of constraints – target platform is an example 4 Add/Change/Optimize the model before conversion to executable 4 Transform model into the text of a lower level language § There is also the need for some kind of workflow to manage the phases § One set of tools in GMT provides all of this in a set of programming languages devoted to the process of model transformation 4 Check – check the model 4 Xtend – manipulate the model 4 Xpand – transform the model into text 4 Workflow – Configure a workflow of transformation components

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Xpand: Model to Text transformation language § Direct access to Ecore § Import EGL meta-model § Polymorphic templates based on meta model types § Aspect Oriented techniques for overriding existing generators § Full Eclipse IDE: 4 Projects, Editors, Debugging

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Open Generation Component Summary § Public API to EGL IR model § Open Source implementation of EGL 2 Ecore utility § EGL Core defined as an Ecore Model § Specification of execution semantics for Core model § Compliance test suite § Open Source generator implementation based on Core model 4 Based on Eclipse GMT technologies 4 Supports generator extensions § Override/Add/Remove elements of base generator without modifying it

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Relationship to existing RBD § An Extension is a set of EGL type definitions that extend the Core 4 Metadata types, e. g. SQLRecord, JSFHandler § A Generator is a plug-in that can transform EGL model into runtime code 4 Generators support transformations from: Core model + Extensions § Each generator or family of generators have their own configuration facilities 4 Open generation framework does not define how this is done § Current EGL generators are one such family 4 Configured through EGL Build Descriptor § An implementation of an open generator is an instance of a different family § Generator extension scenarios based off generators built on open framework 4 Can move functionality of current EGL generators over if appropriate 4 Not all generators need be open § All generator families coexist within the same IDE 4 Each generator family pluggable into RBD

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Scenarios § 3 rd party builds complete generator – does not have to include everything in EGL 4. Net implementation 4 J 2 EE focused implementation § No host influenced elements: structured records, data tables, data types § REST Service focused § Sit on Hibernate, JPA (Java Persistence API), or EJB 3 4 C implementation for Services 4 RPG implementation for Services

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Scenarios § Extension of existing generator 4 Generating to different frameworks § Persistence - Hibernate, JPA, EJB 3 § UI – Struts, Spring, etc 4 Adding new database targets: i. e. LDAP 4 New programming paradigms: i. e. Event programming § Analysis tools working against model § Direct manipulation of UML/Ecore models 4 model operations implemented directly with EGL code

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Future: Enterprise Model Driven Development § Integration of EGL and Ecore allows: 4 MDD tools and EGL to work together 4 Leverages work of Eclipse GMT project 4 Existing community that understands this kind of technology § MDD in the enterprise fails because: 4 Chasm between models and programming too wide 4 Will only work when all programming done at model level § The model is the code § MDD + EGL = Enterprise MDD 4 Allows all coding and debugging at the model level 4 EGL handles cross platform issues

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL Summary § EGL is a logical progression of programming language technology § EGL complements existing standard technologies by providing an open framework for targeting those technologies § Open EGL is necessary to create community § Initially Open EGL means: 4 Extensible metadata defined in EGL 4 Open meta model and generator framework 4 At least one implementation of an extensible generator § Implementation based on Eclipse GMT technology § Eclipse GMT community is a natural consumer of Open EGL § The EGL approach to abstraction is a natural fit into the MDD approach

EGLSimplify. Innovation IBMSoftware. Group | EGL

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