Comments on: When Scala DSLs Fail

By: BuLLDoSer

BuLLDoSer — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:03:52 +0000

Very interesting article you have here and it has many interesting and useful information, I really enjoyed reading this article and I don't feel sorry for the time I spent on reading it.

By: The Point of WebDSL « I am Zef

The Point of WebDSL « I am Zef — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:49:47 +0000

[...] is a statically typed and checked language. I wrote a number of posts about this issue and its [...]

By: Kris Nuttycombe

Kris Nuttycombe — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:37:22 +0000

Ugh, jinja reminds me of JSP. Control structures in the template, no thanks!

By: Jules

Jules — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:41:53 +0000

Thanks. I can't get it to look that good on either Linux or Windows, unfortunately…

By: Zef Hemel

Zef Hemel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:43 +0000

From the screenshots you mean? It's Eclipse's default font on Mac: Monaco. And the Scala plugin-in's default color scheme on Eclipse.

By: Zef Hemel

Zef Hemel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:43 +0000

From the screenshots you mean? It's Eclipse's default font on Mac: Monaco. And the Scala plugin-in's default color scheme on Eclipse.

By: Jules

Jules — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:25:42 +0000

Actually, I'd like to know which color scheme that is too :)

By: Jules

Jules — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:11:30 +0000

What is the font you're using for the Scala code? I like it.

By: Lucian

Lucian — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:59:42 +0000

I think you're relying way too much on your compiler.

Neither DSLs nor XML are a good base for templates. Text templates like Jinja2 are the most natural way to express a template (text with a bit of logic).

By: Bijan Parsia

Bijan Parsia — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:48:37 +0000

Mistake 2 is easily caught by an XML editor/checker. 1 and 2 won't be without extra work (e.g., parsing out the component names and some schema/schematron hackery), but it's pretty doable. As long as you aren't synthesizing the XML programatically, then I think an XML based DSL can be close to an external DSL. The coordination problem is quite large, as is the debugging problem.

By: Zef Hemel

Zef Hemel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:13:31 +0000

I have been thinking about that, but I'm afraid control structures like for loops and if statements won't work anymore, or am I wrong?

By: vdichev

vdichev — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:36:07 +0000

It should be possible to create a type-safe builder pattern, which only allows a listitem to appear within a list- that's where Scala actually shines.

By: nuttycom

nuttycom — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:28:38 +0000

The complaint about typos in Lift templates is legitimate, but I think that it's important to recognize that the templates are simply XHTML and thus are good candidates for manipulation in an HTML editor. Your suggestion of an internal DSL for this purpose would make the templates inaccessible to designers.

That being said, a static verification tool for Lift templates would be a great feature. At present, some of this can be done with unit tests, but a nice dsl to simplify the construction of such tests is a great idea!

By: When JBoss Seam Fails « I am Zef

When JBoss Seam Fails « I am Zef — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:32:32 +0000

[...] Next part in this series: When Scala DSLs Fail. [...]

By: When Rails Fails « I am Zef

When Rails Fails « I am Zef — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:30:28 +0000

[...] Update: My response to common criticisms. Update 2: When JBoss Seam Fails. Update 3: When Scala DSLs Fail. [...]