There are DSLs for nearly eveything we do with computers. Indeed, even "general purpose" programming languages are, in a sense, DSLs for ... math (Fortran), gofai (Lisp), etc. And of course there are zillions of more specific DSLs. The purpose of a DSL is to reduce the complexity of writing code for the target domain, which usually involves specialized vocabulary, functionality, and syntax. But the most complex programs that exist (well, at least among them) are operating systems. Yet we still build them in general purposes languages, like C. Of course, we almost immediately build a layer of functionality on the hardware and system services, but even when you get to the top, like programming bash commands, it's largely done in C (for Unix-likes). I'm wondering whether/why there isn't a DSL for operating systems. (Or maybe there is, but it's hard to find if so; I've never seen one, and it's a difficult set of phrases to search the web for, so I might be just missing the obvious, for which I apologize in advance, and appreciate the pointers.)
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33734299
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Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33734299
Points: 9
# Comments: 11
Continue reading...
