Exploring the Construction of a Domain-Aware Toolchain for High-Performance Computing

Abstract

The push towards exascale computing has sparked a new set of explorations for providing new productive programming environments. While many efforts are focusing on the design and development of domain-specific languages (DSLs), few have addressed the need for providing a fully domain-aware toolchain. Without such domain awareness critical features for achieving acceptance and adoption, such as debugger support, pose a long-term risk to the overall success of the DSL approach. In this paper we explore the use of language extensions to design and implement the Scout DSL and a supporting toolchain infrastructure. We highlight how language features and the software design methodologies used within the toolchain play a significant role in providing a suitable environment for DSL development.