Meta3: a code generator framework for domain-specific languages

In software development, domain-specific languages (DSLs) are often applied for specific or repetitive tasks. For executable DSLs, a model interpreter can be developed to run DSL programs. Nevertheless, it is more widespread to generate code in a general-purpose programming language. A properly chosen DSL expresses the original problem more naturally for both domain and information technology experts, and thus, this approach makes the whole development process, especially requirements engineering and requirements analysis, more efficient and less prone to human errors. There are code generator frameworks and so-called language workbenches available that make the development of code generators for DSLs easier. In this paper, we report on our own code generator framework, called Meta3. Meta3 is based on our code generator development experience. We believe that this experience report will be useful for developers of code generators and language workbenches interested in building more flexible and robust code generators as well as better tools that support the construction of the latter.