In the context of Software Engineering, (SOFTWARE) LANGUAGE ENGINEERING promotes "language descriptions" to first class citizens, just like programs, data, and models. In the last years many approaches have been centered around the concept of languages. This includes:
- Language-Oriented Programming,
- Language-Driven Development,
- Domain-Specific Language Engineering,
- Software Factory Engineering,
- Grammar Engineering,
- Ontology Engineering,
- Schema Engineering, Metamodeling,
- Metamodel Engineering,
- Profile Engineering,
- Attribute-oriented Programming,
- etc.
Languages are everywhere in Informatics. ATEM 2007 covers all kinds of (software) languages needed to talk about and to software systems:
- Programming Languages,
- Domain Specific Languages,
- Modeling Languages,
- Transformation Languages,
- Architectural Description Languages,
- Specification Languages,
- Requirement Languages,
- Ontology Languages,
- Markup Languages,
- etc.
Whatever their actual usage, all these Software Languages (by contrast to Natural Languages) are considered as the object of study in ATEM 2007. (SOFTWARE) LANGUAGE ENGINEERING is about designing, instrumenting, recovering, evolving, and replacing these languages in a disciplined way.
ATEM2007 pays attention to the fact that language descriptions take different form in different technical spaces (e.g. Metamodels, Schemas, Grammars, and Ontologies). Still languages descriptions have many properties in common and typically multiple languages (from different technical spaces) need to be used together and integrated in most software development scenarios.
Thus, we need to fully support the LANGUAGE ENGINEERING LIFE CYCLE including (but not limiting to), requirement analysis, design, implementation, testing, validation, deployment, application, re-engineering, reverse engineering, and evolution of language descriptions.
Since most of language descriptions (e;g. Metamodels, Schemas, Grammars, and Ontologies) have rather different technological, research and cultural origins, the synergistic use is rather a complex task that requires join efforts of different communities.
ATEM2007 brings together researchers from different communities to study the disciplined engineering of language description whatever there actual usage or application domain. The importance of Metamodels, Schemas, Grammars, and Ontologies is generally acknowledged by the model-driven engineering community, but, as yet, the study of these artifacts lacks a common umbrella.
ATEM 2007 intends to discuss all relevant aspects of (SOFTWARE) LANGUAGE ENGINEERING.
ATEM seeks papers that consider Language Descriptions as first class entities. In other words the focus is on the production and evolution of such artefacts by LANGUAGE ENGINEERS rather than the "regular" usage of software languages by application engineers, programmers, modelers, or architects.
Workshop topics include, but are not restricted to:
- Processes, methods, techniques and tools for LANGUAGE ENGINEERING
- Language Requirement Analysis, Design, Testing, Implementation, Deployment
- Language Evaluation, Quality Assessment
- Language Re-engineering, Reverse Engineering, Migration
- Language Evolution, Adaptation, Extension, Customization,
- Language Embedding, Composition, Integration, Mapping, Patterns
- Development of Language-based tools: Editors, Transformers, Interpreters, etc.
- Frameworks for Language Comparison, Classification and Selection