The DomainLang idea

Inspired by the ContextMapper DSL, I wanted to try crafting a more complete DDD specification language, one that can be used for diagrams-as-code for DDD and at the same time serve as a semantic and compilable, model of a domain-driven architecture.

The language

Go directly to the language implementation here.

[!TIP] Try it live! You can try DomainLang for yourself in the online editor.

Goals

I want to provide a great IDE experience with code-completion and everything else you might be used to from coding. Preferably, this is going to work quite easy with VSCode.

On top of this, I plan to provide diagramming-support through GraphViz or similar, and an exploration UI to inspect your model, probably through a browser.

Status so far

This project is still in it's infancy. Feedback is much appreciated 🤩

I am currently exploring three paths:

• /dsl/dlang is based on the recently started langium project by the great folks @ TypeFox and looks really interesting. It's purely TypeScript-based and seems very modern, however still in it's infancy
• /xtext is the original DSL platform and the one used by ContextMapper. This seems quite entangled in Eclipse/Java, which I don't like, but I'll keep an open mind
• /typescript is a different approach, inspired by Pulumi, based on a type system and just plain-old-typescript

I am new to designing DSLs, the Language Server Protocol in VSCode, and GraphViz, so this is probably going to be a fun ride :)

Discarded ideas

• The xtext-based approach is heavily entangled in the Eclipse/java ecosystem. I am aiming at providing a modern and integrated experience with simpler IDEs (e.g. VSCode), why this approach has been discarded
• A pure typescript approach, though attractive at first, is discarded due to complexity in package management and dependency management. This idea might be revisited in the future

Get in touch

I would love to hear from you! Please submit an issue here, and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Feedback is very welcomed - especially if you have experience from language design or domain-driven design.