TUTORIAL SESSION

The power of regular expressions in the software development process

Prof. Andreas Schmidt
University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany
andreas.schmidt@kit.edu

Duration

75min

Abstract

Regular expressions are a powerful instrument when looking for complex patterns in texts. Within the tutorial, regular expressions shall be used to support the software development process. It will be focused among others on lightweight generative software development. Major components are simple generators (e.g. code munger, inline code expander, mixed code generators, etc.) based on regular expressions. The input of the generators consists of existing source texts, from which information is extracted and then transformed to source code, or of simple models describing the application to be implemented.

Objectives

The tutorial will be aimed at familiarizing the participants with the power of regular expressions and at demonstrating their suitability for software development. After the tutorial, the participants will be able to recognize the potential of lightweight generators in software development and also will be able to develop their own generators based on regular expressions.

Timeline

Introduction and motivation: 10 min.
Regular expression overview: 10 min.
Presentation of different generator technologies: 45 min.
Summary & Outlook (Steps towards a general purpose generator): 10 min.

Qualifications of the Instructor(s)

Dr. Andreas Schmidt is working as a professor at the Department of Information Management of the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe (Germany). Here, he is lecturing in the fields of database information systems and model-driven software development. Additionally, he is working as a computer scientist at the Institute for Applied Computer Science of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – KIT (the fusion between the University of Karlsruhe and the Research Center Karlsruhe). His research focuses on web-based technologies, with emphasis on databases and generative programming. Together with scientists from different branches of study, he conceives software solutions in e.g. life cycle assessment, virtual enterprises, and the field of micro- and nanostructures. He published a number of papers in these fields.

Dr. Schmidt was awarded his diploma in computer science by the University of Karlsruhe in 1995 and his PH.D in mechanical engineering in 2000. His thesis dealt with components for building distributed workflow management systems.