Multi-Stage JavaScript

TL;DR

This paper introduces multi-stage programming extensions to JavaScript, enabling generative metaprogramming with macros evaluated before interpretation, implemented in Spider Monkey for development-time code generation and debugging.

Contribution

It extends JavaScript with staging annotations, implementing a multi-stage macro system in Spider Monkey with minimal core modifications and a debugger for AST inspection.

Findings

Extended Spider Monkey with staging annotations and macro support

Generated pure JavaScript code suitable for browser execution

Developed a debugger for AST visualization and stage inspection

Abstract

Multi-stage languages support generative metaprogramming via macros evaluated in a process preceding the actual interpretation or compilation of the program in which they are used. Macros update the source of their hosting program by emitting code that takes their place in the file, while their code may also be produced, fully or partially, by nested macros. All macros at the same nesting belong to the same stage, with the outer stage collecting the macros affect-ing only the main program. We extended JavaScript with staging annotations and implemented them in Spider Monkey, emitting pure JavaScript code as the final outcome of stage computation. We discuss how the original Spider Monkey system is minimally affected with extensions in the syntax, parser and internal AST structures, and the addition of an unparser, a staging loop, some library functions and a debugger backend component for AST inspection. Since stages have a generative metaprogramming role we do not foresee any interplay with the browser DOM, and thus there is no reason to repeat their evalua-tion on every page load. Hence, such JavaScript extensions are meant only for development-time, emitting pure JavaScript code that can be run in any browser. Finally, to enable debugging stages in any browser we implemented a pure JavaScript client, communicating with the extended Spider Monkey, and offering the necessary AST display and unparsing that a browser debugger does not provide.