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Implementation of a Modelica compiler using JastAdd attribute grammars

Åkesson, Johan LU ; Ekman, Torbjörn LU and Hedin, Görel LU orcid (2010) In Science of Computer Programming 75(1-2). p.21-38
Abstract
We have implemented a compiler for key parts of Modelica, an object-oriented language supporting equation-based modeling and simulation of complex physical systems. The compiler is extensible, to support experiments with emerging tools for physical models. To achieve extensibility, the implementation is done declaratively in JastAdd, a metacompilation system supporting modern attribute grammar mechanisms such as reference attributes and nonterminal attributes. This paper reports on experiences from this implementation. For name and type analyses, we illustrate how declarative design strategies, originally developed for a Java compiler, could be reused to support Modelica's advanced features of multiple inheritance and structural subtyping.... (More)
We have implemented a compiler for key parts of Modelica, an object-oriented language supporting equation-based modeling and simulation of complex physical systems. The compiler is extensible, to support experiments with emerging tools for physical models. To achieve extensibility, the implementation is done declaratively in JastAdd, a metacompilation system supporting modern attribute grammar mechanisms such as reference attributes and nonterminal attributes. This paper reports on experiences from this implementation. For name and type analyses, we illustrate how declarative design strategies, originally developed for a Java compiler, could be reused to support Modelica's advanced features of multiple inheritance and structural subtyping. Furthermore, we present new general design strategies for declarative generation of target ASTs from source ASTs. We illustrate how these strategies are used to resolve a generics-like feature of Modelica called modifications, and to support flattening, a fundamental part of Modelica compilation. To validate that the approach is practical, we have compared the execution speed of our compiler to two existing Modelica compilers. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Science of Computer Programming
volume
75
issue
1-2
pages
21 - 38
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:70450277180
ISSN
0167-6423
DOI
10.1016/j.scico.2009.07.003
project
Embedded Applications Software Engineering
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
db069ae5-6d36-46ad-a339-f20f1546fdc7 (old id 1685130)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:58:10
date last changed
2024-01-09 06:10:29
@article{db069ae5-6d36-46ad-a339-f20f1546fdc7,
  abstract     = {{We have implemented a compiler for key parts of Modelica, an object-oriented language supporting equation-based modeling and simulation of complex physical systems. The compiler is extensible, to support experiments with emerging tools for physical models. To achieve extensibility, the implementation is done declaratively in JastAdd, a metacompilation system supporting modern attribute grammar mechanisms such as reference attributes and nonterminal attributes. This paper reports on experiences from this implementation. For name and type analyses, we illustrate how declarative design strategies, originally developed for a Java compiler, could be reused to support Modelica's advanced features of multiple inheritance and structural subtyping. Furthermore, we present new general design strategies for declarative generation of target ASTs from source ASTs. We illustrate how these strategies are used to resolve a generics-like feature of Modelica called modifications, and to support flattening, a fundamental part of Modelica compilation. To validate that the approach is practical, we have compared the execution speed of our compiler to two existing Modelica compilers.}},
  author       = {{Åkesson, Johan and Ekman, Torbjörn and Hedin, Görel}},
  issn         = {{0167-6423}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1-2}},
  pages        = {{21--38}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Science of Computer Programming}},
  title        = {{Implementation of a Modelica compiler using JastAdd attribute grammars}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scico.2009.07.003}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.scico.2009.07.003}},
  volume       = {{75}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}