The Hello World sample is a nice starting point to show the syntax and capabilities of every new language. This test is also useful for code generators and Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) also as a proof of concept.
Following this honorable tradition, I have created a video showing the capabilities of Essential: the tool I am working on for doing agile Model Driven Development.
In this 10 minutes video you will get a general idea of the DSL the language provides to create:
metamodels
models
templates
and control transformations
In order to see the details, jump to Vimeo, activate the High Definition mode (HD) and set full screen (sorry embebed version is not good enough).
Language Workbenches, as defined originally by Martin Fowler, are tools aiming to cope with DSL creation and code generation to increase the level of abstraction of software development.
Currently, the main efforts on MDD, MDE, MDSD (model-driven-whatever you prefer…) are focused in the development of this kind of tools perceived as a hot research area for Software Engineering.
In this scenarion, Cambridge, at Code Generation 2010 was the perfect place for sparkling the idea of promoting a contest to show and compare the advances of different language workbenches.
The Language Workbench Competition born with the objective to serve as a point of comparison between different tools in this exciting and fast moving area.
The competition is now open to the public. So anyone interested can enroll and implement the proposed challenge just published.
On the other hand, if you want to know more about Language Workbenches, modeling and code generation add this page to you bookmarks and come back in few months to see some proposals.
