Definition mechanisms in extensible programming languages

Abstract

The development of extensible programming languages is currently an extremely active area of research, and one which is considered very promising by a broad segment of the computing community. This paper represents an attempt at unification and generalization of these developments, reflecting a specific perspective on their present direction of evolution. The principal influences on this work are cited in the bibliography, and the text itself is devoid of references. This is indicative of the recurring difficulty of attributing the basic ideas in this area to any single source; from the start, the development effort has been characterized by an exceptional interchange of ideas.