OAW Roadmap

Overview (Insert text here) Version 5 In Version 5 we want to improve some of the Xtend language concepts and features. Codename is Xtend++ : Imports The import mechanism should be overworked, so that every import is explicite. We won't need any metamodel configuration in the workflow nor in the editors anymore. This will not only make the setup simpler but will also improve the performance. The syntax would change to something like the following: import org:openarchitectureware:Extension; // native import import EMF "my/package/model.ecore"; // non-native import import UML "my/test.profile.uml" as profile; // non-native import with name space definition Native import A native import refers to another extension file imports all public members (types, functions, extensions). Non-native Import A non native import starts with an identifier pointing to an installed adapter. The adapter is responsible for loading and converting the members from the given string. The syntax in the string is defined by the adapter. Namespace definition All members are included without namespace information. If you need a namespace you can explicitely define one per import. Reexport The reexport keyword will be supported. Object construction pattern We are thinking about a syntax to create model graphs inline. We need this not only for model transformations but also for writing model transformation tests. Example: new Entity as e { name := "Person"; references += new Reference { name := "partner" type := e } } Assignments They are just another syntax for invoking a setter resp. adder-operation (which will be removed). Extensions vs. Functions I (Sven) would like to discuss if it wouldn't be a good idea to explicitely separate between functions and extensions. I think the author of an extension can decide how it should be invoked ( my.ext() vs. ext(my) ). This would make the syntax more strict, so we can provide better error messages. In addition I think it would make extension files more readable. The syntax could look like the following: myExtension(String stuff) : stuff+"-+"stuff; context Entity { javaName() : name.toFirstUpper(); allAttributes() : ....; stuff(String name) : ...; } That is functions in a context [Type] {}-Block are extension - everything else is a function. Code blocks I (Sven) would like to discuss a ruby-like code block syntax. A code block is similar to a chain expression ( a-> b-> x) with the additional features: provides variable declarations (Expression returning void) and assignments (Expression returning the assigned value) support early exit using the 'return' keyword, which forces outer code blocks to exit themselfes. It's something like a pseudo imperative syntax. Example: myExtension(String stuff) : { var x := stuff.length(); if (x>56) return "Foo"; else { return "Bar"; } } A code block is itself an expression consisting of a list of expressions. It returns the value returned by the first executed "return-expression", or the value of the last expression. if expression As seen in the previous example, we want an if-expression. using if, else keywords. if (predicate) expression (else if (predicate) expression)* (else expression)? The else part is optional. The default is "else null".

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