Experience report

Abstract

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) are commonly expected to improve communication with domain experts compared to general-purpose programming languages (GPLs). However, there is a huge gap in the literature concerning how evidence can be given for this expected improvement---a phenomenon that is not only known from DSLs, but also from GPLs in general. This paper presents an experience report of applying an iterative process for evaluating DSL readability for a given DSL in the context of safety-critical software in robotics. The goal of this process is to conduct a randomized controlled trial that gives evidence for the better readability of the DSL in comparison to the readability of a GPL. In this experience report, we describe common pitfalls we identified and possible solutions to overcome these problems in the future.