4.2 LANGUAGE
Language provides the abstraction for development and as such is the most visible part
for developers. In DSM, it is used to make the speci?¬?cations that manual programmers
wouldtreat as source code. If the languageisformed correctly, it should applytermsand
concepts of a particular problem domain. This means that a domain-speci?¬?c language
is most likely useless in other problem domains.
Generally the major domain concepts map to the main modeling concepts, while
others will be captured as object properties, connections, submodels or links to models
in other languages. This allows users of DSM to perceive themselves as working
directly with domain concepts. The focus for the narrowdomain is provided through the
language properties: its modeling concepts, underlying model of computation, and
notational symbols. In the following, we discuss some of the key elements of languages
in general and domain-speci?¬?c modeling languages in particular.
4.2.1 Fundamentals
For domain-speci?¬?c languages, the same de?¬?nitions apply as apply to languages in
general. Modeling languages are typically seen to consist of syntax and semantics. On
the syntax side, we can further distinguish between abstract and concrete syntax. The
former denotes the structure and grammatical rules of a language. The latter deals
with notational symbols and the representational form the language uses.
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