Fusing Modeling and Programming into Language-Oriented Programming - Our Experiences with MPS.

Modeling in general is of course different from programming (think: climate models). However, when we consider the role of models in the context of “model-driven”, i.e., when they are used to automatically construct software, it is much less clear that modeling is different from programming. In this paper, I argue that the two are conceptually indistinguishable, even though in practice they traditionally emphasize different aspects of the (conceptually indistinguishable) common approach. The paper discusses and illustrates language-oriented programming, the approach to {modeling|programming} we have successfully used over the last 7 years to build a range of innovative systems in domains such as insurance, healthcare, tax, engineering and consumer electronics. It relies on domain-specific languages, modular language extension, mixed notations, and in particular, the Jetbrains MPS language workbench.