Applying object-orientation and aspect-orientation in teaching domain-specific language implementation

In traditional compiler design and programming language courses, the complexity required for a successful implementation of the course project is often a major obstacle for many students. This is especially true for courses focused on the design and implementation of domain-specific languages, where the language evolves constantly. This paper describes an approach that allows students to modularize the language constructs of a compiler using object-orientation (OO) and aspect-orientation (AO). Compared to traditional methods used in compiler projects, such a modular design can help students to improve the comprehensibility and changeability of their implementation, leading to a decrease in the overall complexity.