Expressing Intent

How to enable software engineers to express intent directly in terms of the concepts of a domain of interest (and get the corresponding implementation for free)? Most of my (group's) research is related, one way or another, to that question, and includes: design of meta-languages for language design (to support the development of new languages), language theory and implementation techniques (such as parsing, name resolution, constraint solving, rewriting), design of domain-specific languages for particular domains (such as web programming, build systems, digital printers), evaluation of these languages in applications (such as WebLab, conf.researchr.org).

Declare Your Language with Spoofax

How to enable software engineers to design and implement (domain-specific) programming languages? In the Spoofax Language Workbench project we explore solutions and integrate these in a programming environment for the development of languages using high-level declarative meta-languages for syntax, static semantics, dynamic semantics, program analysis, and program transformation.

Name Resolution with Scope Graphs

How to formalize the name binding rules of programming languages? We are developing scope graphs, a uniform framework for the representation of a wide range of name binding patterns in programming languages. A general theory of name resolution interprets scope graphs to resolve references to their corresponding declarations. Scope graphs are a core component of the Statix language for type system specification.

Incremental Software Pipelines with PIE

How to declaratively specify software pipeline for fine and coarse grained tasks and ensure their sound incremental execution? PIE is a domain-specific language and runtime for the specification of software pipelines and their incremental execution. PIE provides an expressive language for defining pipelines including dynamic dependencies, and guarantees efficient, precise and scalable incremental execution.

Programming Education at Scale with WebLab

How to scale programming education to large numbers of students? How to scale delivery of many assignments and exam questions for a course and still provide feedback to students? WebLab provides a web-based learning environment for programming education that supports lab assignments and proctored digital exams. WebLab is currently used in 12 courses at TU Delft.