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[phd-thesis.git] / intro / intro.tex
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8 \chapter{Prelude}%
9 \label{chp:introduction}
10 \begin{chapterabstract}
11 This chapter introduces the dissertation by providing:
12 \begin{itemize}
13 \item a general introduction to the topics and research directions;
14 \item a reading guide;
15 \item background material on the \glsxtrlong{IOT}, \glsxtrlongpl{DSL}, \glsxtrlong{TOP}, \gls{ITASK}, and \gls{MTASK};
16 \item and a detailed overview of the scientific contributions of this dissertation.
17 \end{itemize}
18 \end{chapterabstract}
19
20 There are at least 13.4 billion devices connected to the internet at the time of writing \citep{transforma_insights_current_2023}.
21 Each of these sense, act, or otherwise, interacts with people, computers, and the environment.
22 Despite their immense diversity in characteristics, they are all computers and they they all require software to operate.
23
24 An increasing number of these connected devices are so-called \emph{edge devices} that operate in the \gls{IOT}.
25 Edge devices are the leaves of the \gls{IOT} systems.
26 They perform the interaction with the physical world and are often physically embedded in the fabric itself, residing usually in hard-to-reach places such as light bulbs, clothing, smart electricity meters, buildings, or even farm animals.
27 Typically, these edge devices are powered by microcontrollers.
28 Microcontrollers are equipped with a lot of connectivity for integrating peripherals such as sensors and actuators.
29 The connectivity makes them very suitable to interact with their surroundings.
30 These miniature computers contain integrated circuits that accommodate a microprocessor designed for use in embedded applications.
31 As a consequence, microcontrollers are cheap; tiny; have little memory; and contain a slow, but energy-efficient processor.
32
33 Unlike the conductor in an orchestra waving their baton to instruct the ensemble of instruments, in the universe of software there is room for little error.
34 Moreover, in dynamic \gls{IOT} applications, there is not always a coordinating conductor.
35 Edge devices---the instruments---come and go, perform their own pieces, or are sometimes instructed to perform a certain piece, they might even operate without a central authority.
36 In a traditional setting, an \gls{IOT} engineer has to program each device and their interoperation using different programming paradigms, programming languages, and abstraction levels.
37 This results in semantic friction, which makes programming and maintaining \gls{IOT} systems a complex and error-prone process.
38
39 This dissertation describes the research carried out around orchestrating these complex \gls{IOT} systems using \gls{TOP}.
40 \Gls{TOP} is an innovative tierless programming paradigm for interactive multi-layered systems.
41 By utilising advanced compiler technologies, much of the internals, communication, and interoperation between the tiers or layers of the applications are automatically generated.
42 From a single declarative specification of the work required, the compiler makes a ready-for-work application consisting of interconnected components for all tiers.
43 For example, the \gls{TOP} system \gls{ITASK} is used to program all layers of multi-user distributed web applications from a single source specification.
44 It is implemented in the general-purpose lazy functional programming language \gls{CLEAN}, and therefore requires relatively powerful hardware.
45 The inflated hardware requirements are no problem for regular computers but impractical for the average edge device.
46
47 This is where \glspl{DSL} must be brought into play.
48 \Glspl{DSL} are programming languages created with a specific domain in mind.
49 Consequently, jargon does not have to be expressed in terms of the language itself, but they can be built-in features.
50 Furthermore, the \gls{DSL} can eschew language or system features that are irrelevant for the domain.
51 Using \glspl{DSL}, hardware requirements can be drastically lowered, even while maintaining a high abstraction level for the specified domain.
52
53 To incorporate the plethora of edge devices in the orchestra of a \gls{TOP} system, the \gls{MTASK} system is used.
54 The \gls{MTASK} language is a novel programming language for programming \gls{IOT} edge devices using \gls{TOP}.
55 Where \gls{ITASK} abstracts away from the gritty details of multi-tier web applications, \gls{MTASK} has domain-specific abstractions for \gls{IOT} edge devices, maintaining the high abstraction level that \gls{TOP} offers.
56 As it is integrated with \gls{ITASK}, it allows for all layers of an \gls{IOT} application to be programmed from a single source.
57
58 \section{Reading guide}%
59 \label{lst:reading_guide}
60 This work is structured as a purely functional rhapsody.
61 The \citet{wikipedia_contributors_rhapsody_2022} define a musical rhapsody is defined as follows:
62 \begin{quote}\emph{%
63 A \emph{rhapsody} in music is a one-movement work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, colour, and tonality.}
64 \end{quote}
65 This dissertation consists of three episodes.
66 \Cref{prt:dsl} is a paper-based---otherwise known as cumulative---episode containing chapters that provide insight in advanced \gls{DSL} embedding techniques for \gls{FP} languages.
67 The chapters can be read independently from each other.
68 \Cref{prt:top} is a monograph showing \gls{MTASK}, a \gls{TOP} \gls{DSL} for the \gls{IOT}.
69 Hence, the chapters in this episode are best read in order.
70 It introduces \gls{IOT} edge device programming, shows the complete \gls{MTASK} language, provides details on how \gls{MTASK} is integrated with \gls{ITASK}, shows how the byte code compiler is implemented, presents a guide for green computing with \gls{MTASK}, and ends with a conclusion and overview of future and related work.
71 \Cref{prt:tvt} is a single chapter based on a journal article in which traditional tiered \gls{IOT} programming is qualitatively and quantitatively compared to tierless programming using a real-world application.
72 The chapter is readable independently.
73
74 The following sections in this prelude provide background material on the \gls{IOT}, \glspl{DSL}, and \gls{TOP} after which a detailed overview of the contributions is presented.
75
76 \section{Internet of things}%
77 \label{sec:back_iot}
78 The \gls{IOT} is growing rapidly, and it is changing the way people and machines interact with each other and the world.
79 While the term \gls{IOT} briefly gained interest around 1999 to describe the communication of \gls{RFID} devices \citep{ashton_internet_1999,ashton_that_2009}, it probably already popped up halfway the eighties in a speech by \citet{lewis_speech_1985}:
80
81 \begin{quote}
82 \emph{The \glsxtrlong{IOT}, or \glsxtrshort{IOT}, is the integration of people, processes and technology with connectable devices and sensors to enable remote monitoring, status, manipulation and evaluation of trends of such devices.}
83 \end{quote}
84
85 Much later, CISCO states that the \gls{IOT} started when there were as many connected devices as there were people on the globe, i.e.\ around 2008 \citep{evans_internet_2011}.
86 Today, \gls{IOT} is the term for a system of devices that sense the environment, act upon it, and communicate with each other and the world they operate in.
87 These connected devices are already in households all around us in the form of smart electricity meters, fridges, phones, watches, home automation, \etc.
88
89 When describing \gls{IOT} systems, a tiered---or layered---architecture is often used for compartmentalisation.
90 The number of tiers depends on the required complexity of the model.
91 For the intents and purposes of this thesis, the layered architecture as shown in \cref{fig:iot-layers} is used.
92
93 \begin{figure}
94 \centering
95 \includestandalone{iot-layers}
96 \caption{A layered \gls{IOT} architecture.}%
97 \label{fig:iot-layers}
98 \end{figure}
99
100 To explain the tiers, an example \gls{IOT} application---home automation---is dissected.
101 Closest to the end-user is the presentation layer, it provides the interface between the user and the \gls{IOT} system.
102 In home automation this may be a web interface, an app used on a phone, or wall-mounted tablet to interact with edge devices and view sensor data.
103
104 The application layer provides the \glspl{API}, data interfaces, data storage processing, and data processing of \gls{IOT} systems.
105 A cloud server or local server provides this layer in a typical home automation application.
106
107 The perception layer---also called edge layer---collects the data and interacts with the environment.
108 It consists of edge devices such as microcontrollers equipped with various sensors and actuators.
109 In home automation this layer consists of all devices hosting sensors and actuators such as smart light bulbs, actuators to open doors, or temperature and humidity sensors.
110
111 All layers are connected using the network layer.
112 In some applications this is implemented using conventional networking techniques such as \gls{WIFI} or Ethernet.
113 However, network technology that is tailored to the needs of the specific interconnection between two layers is increasingly popular.
114 Examples of this are BLE, LoRa, ZigBee, and LTE-M as a communication protocol for connecting the perception layer to the application layer using \gls{IOT} transport protocols such as \gls{MQTT}.
115 Protocols such as HTTP, AJAX, and WebSocket connecting the presentation layer to the application layer that are designed for the use in web applications.
116
117 Across the layers, the devices are a large heterogeneous collection of different platforms, protocols, paradigms, and programming languages often resulting in impedance problems or semantic friction between layers when programming \citep{ireland_classification_2009}.
118 Even more so, the perception layer itself is often a heterogeneous collection of microcontrollers in itself, each having their own peculiarities, programming language of choice, and hardware interfaces.
119 As edge hardware needs to be cheap, small scale, and energy efficient, the microcontrollers used to power them do not have a lot of computational power, only a smidge of memory, and little communication bandwidth.
120 Typically, these devices are unable to run a full-fledged general-purpose \gls{OS}.
121 Rather they employ compiled firmware written in imperative languages that combines all tasks on the device in a single program.
122 While devices are getting a bit faster, smaller, and cheaper, they keep these properties to an extent.
123 For example, more powerful microcontrollers are capable of running \glspl{RTOS}, but this still requires a lot of resources and fixes the programs at compile time.
124 As a consequence, the flexibility is greatly reduced for dynamic systems in which tasks are created on the fly, executed on demand, require parallel execution, or have dynamic scheduling behaviour.
125 As program memory is mostly flash-based and only lasts a couple of thousands of writes before it wears out, it is not suitable for repeated reconfiguring and reprogramming.
126
127 These problems can be mitigated by dynamically sending code to be interpreted to the microcontroller.
128 With interpretation, a specialized interpreter is flashed in the program memory once it receives the program code to execute at run time.
129 Therefore, as the programs are not stored in the flash memory, it does not wear out.
130 It is challenging to create interpreters for small edge devices due to the severe hardware restrictions.
131 This dissertation describes a \gls{DSL} that includes the high-level programming concepts of \gls{TOP}, while it can be executed on edge devices with very limited hardware requirements.
132 It does so by compiling the \gls{DSL} to byte code that is executed in a feather-light domain-specific \gls{OS}.
133
134 \section{Domain-specific languages}%
135 \label{sec:back_dsl}
136 % General
137 Programming languages can be divided up into two categories: \glspl{DSL} and \glspl{GPL} \citep{fowler_domain_2010}.
138 Where \glspl{GPL} are not made with a demarcated area in mind, \glspl{DSL} are tailor-made for a specific domain.
139 Writing idiomatic domain-specific code in a \gls{DSL} is easier and requires less \gls{GPL} knowledge for a domain expert.
140 This does come at the cost of the \gls{DSL} being sometimes less expressive to an extent that it may not even be Turing complete.
141 \Glspl{DSL} come in two main flavours: standalone and embedded (\cref{sec:standalone_embedded})\footnote{Standalone and embedded are also called external and internal respectively.}.
142 Standalone languages are languages for which the complete toolchain has been developed, just as for any other \gls{GPL}.
143 Embedded languages piggyback on an existing language, they are defined in terms of their host language.
144 \Glspl{EDSL} can further be classified into heterogeneous and homogeneous languages (\cref{sec:hetero_homo}).
145 In homogeneous languages all components are integrated whereas in heterogeneous \glspl{DSL}, some parts are agnostic of the other systems, e.g.\ a \gls{DSL} that generates code for execution on a totally different system.
146 This hyponymy is shown in \cref{fig:hyponymy_of_dsls}.
147
148 \begin{figure}
149 \centering
150 \includestandalone{hyponymy_of_dsls}
151 \caption{A hyponymy of \glspl{DSL} (adapted from \citet[\citepage{2}]{mernik_extensible_2013}).}%
152 \label{fig:hyponymy_of_dsls}
153 \end{figure}
154
155 \subsection{Standalone and embedded}%
156 \label{sec:standalone_embedded}
157 \glspl{DSL} were historically created as standalone languages, meaning that all machinery is developed solely for the language.
158 The advantage of this approach is that the language designer is free to define the syntax and type system of the language as they wish, not being restricted by any constraint.
159 Unfortunately it also means that they need to develop a compiler or interpreter, and all the scaffolding for the language, making standalone \glspl{DSL} costly to create.
160 Examples of standalone \glspl{DSL} are \TeX, make, yacc, XML, SQL, \etc.
161
162 The dichotomous approach to standalone \glspl{DSL} is embedding the \gls{DSL} in a host language, i.e.\ \glspl{EDSL} \citep{hudak_modular_1998}.
163 By defining the language as constructs in the host language, much of the machinery is inherited \citep{krishnamurthi_linguistic_2001}.
164 This greatly reduces the cost of creating embedded languages and shields the user from having to learn the host language and toolchain.
165 However, there are two sides to this coin.
166 If the syntax of the host language is not very flexible, the syntax of the \gls{DSL} can become clumsy.
167 Furthermore, \gls{DSL} errors shown to the programmer may be larded with host language errors, making it difficult for a non-expert of the host language to work with the \gls{DSL}.
168 \Gls{FP} languages are especially suitable for hosting embedded \glspl{DSL}.
169 They offer tooling for building abstraction levels by a strong and versatile type system, minimal but flexible syntax, and referential transparency.
170
171 \subsection{Heterogeneity and homogeneity}%
172 \label{sec:hetero_homo}
173 \Citet{tratt_domain_2008} applies a notion from metaprogramming \citep{sheard_accomplishments_2001} to \glspl{EDSL} to define homogeneity and heterogeneity of \glspl{EDSL} as follows:
174
175 \begin{quote}
176 \emph{A homogeneous system is one where all the components are specifically designed to work with each other, whereas in heterogeneous systems at least one of the components is largely, or completely, ignorant of the existence of the other parts of the system.
177 }
178 \end{quote}
179
180 Homogeneous \glspl{EDSL} are languages that are solely defined as an extension to their host language.
181 They often restrict features of the host language to provide a safer interface or capture an idiomatic pattern in the host language for reuse.
182 The difference between a library and a homogeneous \glspl{EDSL} is not always clear.
183 Examples of homogeneous \glspl{EDSL} are libraries such as ones for sets, regions, but also more complex tasks such as \glspl{GUI}.
184
185 On the other hand, heterogeneous \glspl{EDSL} are languages that are not executed in the host language.
186 For example, \citet{elliott_compiling_2003} describe the language Pan, for which the final representation in the host language is a compiler that will, when executed, generate code for a completely different target platform.
187
188 Both \gls{ITASK} and \gls{MTASK} are \glspl{EDSL}.
189 Programs written in \gls{ITASK} run in the host language, and it is a homogeneous \gls{DSL}.
190 Tasks written using \gls{MTASK} are dynamically compiled to byte code for an edge device, making it a heterogeneous \gls{DSL}.
191 The interpreter running on the edge device has no knowledge of the higher level task specification.
192 It just interprets the byte code it was sent and takes care of the communication.
193
194 \section{Task-oriented programming}%
195 \label{sec:back_top}
196 \Gls{TOP} is a declarative programming paradigm for modelling interactive systems \citep{plasmeijer_task-oriented_2012}.
197 Instead of dividing problems into layers, \gls{TOP} deals with separation of concerns in a novel way.
198 This approach to software development is called \gls{TOSD} \citep{wang_maintaining_2018}.
199
200 \begin{figure}
201 \centering
202 \includestandalone{tosd}
203 \caption{Separation of concerns in \gls{TOSD} (adapted from \citep[\citepage{20}]{wang_maintaining_2018}).}%
204 \label{fig:tosd}
205 \end{figure}
206
207 \begin{description}
208 \item[Types:]
209 As can be seen from \cref{fig:tosd}, types are the pivotal component in \gls{TOP}.
210 From the data types, utilising various \emph{type-parametrised} concepts, all other aspects are handled automatically.
211 Hence, all other components arise from and depend on the types in the program.
212 \item[Tasks:]
213 In \gls{TOP} languages, tasks are the basic building blocks.
214 A task is an abstract representation of a piece of work that needs to be done.
215 It provides an abstraction over work in the real world.
216 The nature of tasks makes them observable during execution.
217 It is possible to observe the current task value act upon it, e.g.\ taking a partial result as good enough, or by starting new tasks.
218 Examples of tasks are filling forms, sending emails, reading sensors or even doing physical tasks.
219 Just as with real-life tasks, multiple tasks can be combined in various ways such as in parallel or in sequence to form workflows.
220 Such combination operators are called task combinators.
221 \item[\Glspl{SDS}:]
222 Tasks mainly communicate using their observable task values.
223 However, some collaboration patterns are more easily expressed by tasks that share common data.
224 \Glspl{SDS} fill this gap, they offer a safe abstraction over any data.
225 An \gls{SDS} can represent typed data stored in a file, a chunk of memory, a database, \etc.
226 \Glspl{SDS} can also represent external impure data such as the time, random numbers or sensor data.
227 In many \gls{TOP} languages, combinators are available to filter, combine, transform, and focus \glspl{SDS}.
228 \item[\Gls{UI}:]
229 The \gls{UI} of the system is automatically generated from the structural representation of the types.
230 Though, practical \gls{TOP} systems allow tweaking afterwards to suit the specific needs of the application.
231 \item[\Gls{UOD}:]
232 The \gls{UOD} is explicitly and separately modelled by the data types and relations that exist in the functions of the host language.
233 \end{description}
234
235 \Cref{fig:tosd} differs from the presented \gls{IOT} architecture shown in \cref{fig:iot-layers} because they represent different concepts.
236 The \gls{IOT} architecture is an execution architecture whereas \gls{TOSD} is a software development model.
237 E.g.\ from a software development perspective, a task is a task, whether it is executed on a microcontroller, a server, or a client.
238 Only when a task is executed, the location of the execution becomes important, but this is taken care of by the system.
239 Some concepts from the \gls{TOSD} model can be mapped upon the \gls{IOT} architecture in two ways.
240 Firstly, edge devices can be seen as simple resources, thus accessed through \glspl{SDS}.
241 The second view is that edge devices contain miniature \gls{TOP} systems in itself.
242 The individual components in the miniature systems, the tasks, the \glspl{SDS}, are, in the eventual execution, connected to the main system.
243
244 \subsection{The iTask system}
245 The concept of \gls{TOP} originated from the \gls{ITASK} framework, a declarative language and \gls{TOP} engine for defining interactive multi-user distributed web applications.
246 The \gls{ITASK} system is implemented as an \gls{EDSL} in the programming language \gls{CLEAN}\footnote{\Cref{chp:clean_for_haskell_programmers} contains a guide for \gls{CLEAN} tailored to \gls{HASKELL} programmers.} \citep{plasmeijer_itasks:_2007,plasmeijer_task-oriented_2012}.
247 It has been under development for over fifteen years and has proven itself through use in industry for some time now as well \citep{top_software_viia_2023}.
248 From the structural properties of the data types and the current status of the work to be done, the entire \gls{UI} is automatically generated.
249 Browsers are powering \gls{ITASK}'s presentation layer.
250 The framework is built on top of standard web techniques such as JavaScript, HTML, and {CSS}.
251 The browser runs the actual \gls{ITASK} code using an interpreter that operates on \gls{CLEAN}'s intermediate language \gls{ABC} \citep{staps_lazy_2019}.
252
253 Tasks in \gls{ITASK} have either \emph{no value}, an \emph{unstable} or a \emph{stable} task value.
254 For example, an editor for filling in a form initially has no value.
255 Once the user entered a complete value, its value becomes an unstable value, it can still be changed or even reverted to no value by emptying the editor again.
256 Only when for example a continue button is pressed, a task value becomes stable, fixing its value.
257 The allowed task value transitions are shown in \cref{fig:taskvalue}.
258
259 \begin{figure}
260 \centering
261 \includestandalone{taskvalue}
262 \caption{Transition diagram for task values in \gls{ITASK}.}%
263 \label{fig:taskvalue}
264 \end{figure}
265
266 As an example, \cref{lst:todo,fig:todo} show the code and \gls{UI} for an interactive to-do list application.
267 The user modifies a shared to-do list through an editor directly or using some predefined actions.
268 Furthermore, in parallel, the length of the list is shown to demonstrate \glspl{SDS}.
269 Using \gls{ITASK}, complex collaborations of users and tasks can be described on a high level.
270
271 From the data type definitions (\cref{lst:todo_dt}), using generic programming (\cref{lst:todo_derive}), the \glspl{UI} for the data types are automatically generated.
272 Then, using the parallel task combinator (\cleaninline{-\|\|}) the task for updating the to-dos (\cref{lst:todo_update}) and the task for viewing the length are combined (\cref{lst:todo_length}).
273 This particular parallel combinator uses the result of the left-hand side task.
274 Both tasks operate on the to-do \gls{SDS} (\cref{lst:todo_sds}).
275 The task for updating the to-do list is an editor (\cref{lst:todo_editor}) combined using a step combinator (\crefrange{lst:todo_contfro}{lst:todo_contto}).
276 The actions either change the value, sorting or clearing it, or terminate the task by returning the current value of the \gls{SDS}.
277 Special combinators (e.g.\ \cleaninline{@>>} at \cref{lst:todo_ui}) are used to tweak the \gls{UI} to display informative labels.
278
279 \cleaninputlisting[float=,firstline=6,lastline=22,tabsize=3,numbers=left,caption={The code for a shared to-do list in \gls{ITASK}.},label={lst:todo}]{lst/sharedlist.icl}
280
281 \begin{figure}
282 \centering
283 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{todo0g}
284 \caption{The \gls{UI} for the shared to-do list in \gls{ITASK}.}%
285 \label{fig:todo}
286 \end{figure}
287
288 \subsection{The mTask system}
289 The work for \gls{IOT} edge devices can often be succinctly described by \gls{TOP} programs.
290 Software on microcontrollers is usually composed of smaller basic tasks, are interactive, and share data with other components or the server.
291 The \gls{ITASK} system seems an obvious candidate for bringing \gls{TOP} to \gls{IOT} edge devices.
292 However, an \gls{ITASK} application contains many features that are not needed on \emph{edge devices} such as higher-order tasks, support for a distributed architecture, or a multi-user web server.
293 Furthermore, \gls{IOT} edge devices are in general not powerful enough to run or interpret \gls{CLEAN}\slash\gls{ABC} code, they just lack the processor speed and memory.
294 To bridge this gap, \gls{MTASK} is developed, a domain-specific \gls{TOP} system for \gls{IOT} edge devices that is integrated in \gls{ITASK} \citep{koopman_task-based_2018}.
295 The \gls{ITASK} language abstracts away from details such as user interfaces, data storage, client-side platforms, and persistent workflows.
296 On the other hand, \gls{MTASK} offers abstractions for edge layer-specific details such as the heterogeneity of architectures, platforms, and frameworks; peripheral access; (multi) task scheduling; and lowering energy consumption.
297
298 The \gls{MTASK} system is seamlessly integrated with \gls{ITASK}.
299 Tasks in \gls{MTASK} are integrated in such a way that they function as regular \gls{ITASK} tasks.
300 Furthermore, \glspl{SDS} on the device can proxy \gls{ITASK} \glspl{SDS}.
301 Using \gls{MTASK}, the programmer can define all layers of an \gls{IOT} system as a single declarative specification.
302 The \gls{MTASK} language is written in \gls{CLEAN} as a multi-view \gls{EDSL} and hence there are multiple interpretations possible.
303 The byte code compiler is the most relevant for this thesis.
304 From an \gls{MTASK} task constructed at run time, a compact binary representation of the work that needs to be done is compiled.
305 This byte code is then sent to a device that running the \gls{MTASK} \gls{RTS}.
306 This feather-light domain-specific \gls{OS} is written in portable \gls{C} with a minimal device specific interface and it executes the tasks using interpretation and rewriting.
307
308 To illustrate \imtask{}, an example application is shown.
309 The application is an interactive application for blinking \pgls{LED} on the microcontroller at a certain frequency that can be set and updated at run time.
310 \Cref{lst:intro_blink,fig:intro_blink} show the \gls{ITASK} part of the code and a screenshot.
311 Using \cleaninline{enterInformation}, the connection specification of the \gls{TCP} device is queried through a web editor (\cref{lst:intro_enterDevice,fig:intro_blink_dev}).
312 \Cref{lst:intro_withshared} defines \pgls{SDS} to communicate the blinking interval between the server and the edge device.
313 The \gls{MTASK} device is connected using \cleaninline{withDevice} at \cref{lst:intro_withdevice}.
314 Once connected, the \cleaninline{intBlink} task is sent to the device (\cref{lst:intro_liftmtask}) and, in parallel, a web editor is shown that updates the value of the interval \gls{SDS} (\cref{lst:intro_editor,fig:intro_blink_int}).
315 To allow terminating of the task, the \gls{ITASK} task ends with a sequential operation that returns a constant value when the button is pressed, making the task stable.
316
317 \cleaninputlisting[firstline=10,lastline=18,numbers=left,caption={The \gls{ITASK} code for the interactive blinking application.},label={lst:intro_blink}]{lst/blink.icl}
318
319 \begin{figure}
320 \centering
321 \begin{subfigure}{.5\textwidth}
322 \centering
323 \includegraphics[width=.9\linewidth]{blink1g}
324 \caption{Device selection.}\label{fig:intro_blink_dev}
325 \end{subfigure}%
326 \begin{subfigure}{.5\textwidth}
327 \centering
328 \includegraphics[width=.9\linewidth]{blink2g}
329 \caption{Changing the interval.}\label{fig:intro_blink_int}
330 \end{subfigure}
331 \caption{The \gls{UI} for the interactive blink application in \gls{MTASK}.}%
332 \label{fig:intro_blink}
333 \end{figure}
334
335 The \cleaninline{intBlink} task (\cref{lst:intro_blink_mtask}) is the \gls{MTASK} part of the application.
336 It has its own tasks, \glspl{SDS}, and \gls{UOD}.
337 This task first defines \gls{GPIO} pin 13 to be of the output type (\cref{lst:intro:declarePin}), followed by lifting the \gls{ITASK} \gls{SDS} to an \gls{MTASK} \gls{SDS} (\cref{lst:intro:liftsds}).
338 The main expression of the program calls the \cleaninline{blink} function with an initial state.
339 This function on \crefrange{lst:intro:blink_fro}{lst:intro:blink_to} first reads the interval \gls{SDS}, waits the specified delay, writes the state to the \gls{GPIO} pin, and calls itself recursively using the inverse of the state in order to run continuously.
340
341 \begin{lstClean}[numbers=left,belowskip=0pt]
342 intBlink :: (Shared sds Int) -> Main (MTask v Int) | mtask v & ...\end{lstClean}
343 \cleaninputlisting[aboveskip=0pt,firstnumber=4,firstline=23,numbers=left,caption={The \gls{MTASK} code for the interactive blinking application.},label={lst:intro_blink_mtask}]{lst/blink.icl}
344
345 \subsection{Other TOP languages}
346 While \gls{ITASK} conceived \gls{TOP}, it is no longer the only \gls{TOP} system.
347 Some \gls{TOP} languages were created to fill a gap encountered in practise.
348 Toppyt \citep{lijnse_toppyt_2022} is a general purpose \gls{TOP} language written in \gls{PYTHON} used to host frameworks for modelling command \& control systems, and hTask \citep{lubbers_htask_2022}, a vessel for experimenting with asynchronous \glspl{SDS}.
349 Furthermore, some \gls{TOP} systems arose from Master's and Bachelor's thesis projects.
350 For example, \textmu{}Task \citep{piers_task-oriented_2016}, a \gls{TOP} language for modelling non-interruptible embedded systems in \gls{HASKELL}, and LTasks \citep{van_gemert_task_2022}, a \gls{TOP} language written in the dynamically typed programming language Lua.
351 Finally, there are \gls{TOP} languages with strong academic foundations.
352 \Gls{TOPHAT} is a fully formally specified \gls{TOP} language designed to capture the essence of \gls{TOP} \citep{steenvoorden_tophat_2019}.
353 Such a formal specification allows for symbolic execution, hint generation, but also the translation to \gls{ITASK} for actually performing the work \citep{steenvoorden_tophat_2022}.
354 \Citeauthor{steenvoorden_tophat_2022} distinguishes two instruments for \gls{TOP}: \gls{TOP} languages and \gls{TOP} engines.
355 The language is the \emph{formal} language for specifying interactive systems.
356 The engine is the software or hardware that executes these specifications as a ready-for-work application.
357
358 \section{Contributions}%
359 \label{sec:contributions}
360 This section provides a thorough overview of the relation between the scientific publications and the contents of this thesis.
361
362 \subsection{\Fullref{prt:dsl}}
363 The \gls{MTASK} system is an \gls{EDSL} and during the development of it, several novel basal techniques for embedding \glspl{DSL} in \gls{FP} languages have been found.
364 This paper-based episode contains the following papers:
365 \begin{enumerate}
366 \item \emph{Deep Embedding with Class} \citep*{lubbers_deep_2022} is the basis for \cref{chp:classy_deep_embedding}.
367 It shows a novel deep embedding technique for \glspl{DSL} where the resulting language is extendible both in constructs and in interpretation just using type classes and existential data types.
368 The related work section is updated with the research found after publication.
369 \Cref{sec:classy_reprise} was added after publication and contains a (yet) unpublished extension of the embedding technique for reducing the required boilerplate at the cost of requiring some advanced type system extensions.
370 \item \emph{First-\kern-1ptClass Data Types in Shallow Embedded Domain-Specific Languages} \citep*{lubbers_first-class_2022}\label{enum:first-class} is the basis for \cref{chp:first-class_datatypes}.
371 It shows how to inherit data types from the host language in \glspl{EDSL} using metaprogramming by providing a proof-of-concept implementation using \gls{HASKELL}'s metaprogramming system: \glsxtrlong{TH}.
372 The paper also serves as a gentle introduction to, and contains a thorough literature study on \glsxtrlong{TH}.
373 \end{enumerate}
374
375 \todo[inline]{add stack paper?}
376 %\paragraph{Other publications on eDSLs:}
377 %Furthermore, I co-authored a paper that is not part of the \gls{MTASK} system yet and hence not part of the dissertation.
378 %
379 %\begin{enumerate}[resume]
380 % \item \emph{Strongly-Typed Multi-\kern-2.5ptView Stack-\kern-1.25ptBased Computations} \citep{koopman_strongly-typed_2022}\label{enum:stack-based} shows how to create type-safe \glspl{EDSL} representing stack-based computations.
381 % Instead of encoding the arguments to a function as arguments in the host language, stack-based approaches use a run time stack that contains the arguments.
382 % By encoding the required contents of the stack in the types, such systems can be made type safe.
383 %\end{enumerate}
384
385 \paragraph{Contribution:}
386 The papers of which I am first author are solely written by me, there were weekly meetings with co-authors in which we discussed and refined the ideas.
387
388 \subsection{\crtCref{prt:top}: \hspace{8.28992pt}\nameref{prt:top}}
389 This episode is a monograph that shows the design, properties, implementation and usage of the \gls{MTASK} system and \gls{TOP} for the \gls{IOT}.
390 It is compiled from the following publications:
391
392 \begin{enumerate}[resume]
393 \item \emph{A Task-\kern-1.25ptBased \glsxtrshort{DSL} for Microcomputers} \citep*{koopman_task-based_2018}
394 is the initial \gls{TOP}\slash{}\gls{MTASK} paper.
395 It provides an overview of the initial \gls{TOP} \gls{MTASK} language and shows first versions of some interpretations.
396 \item \emph{Task Oriented Programming for the Internet of Things} \citep*{lubbers_task_2018}\footnote{This work is an extension of my Master's thesis \citep{lubbers_task_2017}.}
397 shows how a simple imperative variant of \gls{MTASK} was integrated with \gls{ITASK}.
398 While the language differs a lot from the current version, the integration mechanism is still used.
399 % \paragraph{Contribution}
400 % The research in this paper and writing the paper was performed by me, though there were weekly meetings with Pieter Koopman and Rinus Plasmeijer in which we discussed and refined the ideas.
401 \item \emph{Multitasking on Microcontrollers using Task Oriented Programming} \citep*{lubbers_multitasking_2019}\footnote{This work acknowledges the support of the \erasmusplus{} project ``Focusing Education on Composability, Comprehensibility and Correctness of Working Software'', no.\ 2017--1--SK01--KA203--035402.}
402 is a short paper on the multitasking capabilities of \gls{MTASK} comparing it to traditional multitasking methods for \gls{ARDUINO}.
403 % \paragraph{Contribution}
404 % The research in this paper and writing the paper was performed by me, though there were weekly meetings with Pieter Koopman and Rinus Plasmeijer.
405 \item \emph{Simulation of a Task-\kern-1.25ptBased Embedded Domain Specific Language for the Internet of Things} \citep*{koopman_simulation_2023}\footnotemark[\value{footnote}]
406 are the revised lecture notes for a course on the \gls{MTASK} simulator provided at the 2018 \gls{CEFP}\slash{}\gls{3COWS} winter school in Ko\v{s}ice, Slovakia, January 22--26, 2018.
407 % \paragraph{Contribution}
408 % Pieter Koopman wrote and taught it, I helped with the software and research.
409 \item \emph{Writing Internet of Things Applications with Task Oriented Programming} \citep*{lubbers_writing_2023}\footnotemark[\value{footnote}]
410 are the revised lecture notes from a course on programming \gls{IOT} systems using \gls{MTASK} provided at the 2019 \gls{CEFP}\slash{}\gls{3COWS} summer school in Budapest, Hungary, June 17--21, 2019.
411 % \paragraph{Contribution}
412 % Pieter Koopman prepared and taught half of the lecture and supervised the practical session.
413 % I taught the other half of the lecture, wrote the lecture notes, made the assignments and supervised the practical session.
414 \item \emph{Interpreting Task Oriented Programs on Tiny Computers} \citep*{lubbers_interpreting_2019}
415 shows an implementation of the byte code compiler and \gls{RTS} of \gls{MTASK}.
416 % \paragraph{Contribution}
417 % The research in this paper and writing the paper was performed by me, though there were weekly meetings with Pieter Koopman and Rinus Plasmeijer.
418 \item \emph{Reducing the Power Consumption of IoT with Task-Oriented Programming} \citep*{crooijmans_reducing_2022}
419 shows how to create a scheduler so that devices running \gls{MTASK} tasks can go to sleep more automatically and how interrupts are incorporated in the language.
420 % \paragraph{Contribution}
421 % The research was carried out by \citet{crooijmans_reducing_2021} during his Master's thesis.
422 % I did the daily supervision and helped with the research, Pieter Koopman was the formal supervisor and wrote most of the paper.
423 \item \emph{Green Computing for the Internet of Things} \citep*{lubbers_green_2022}\footnote{This work acknowledges the support of the \erasmusplus{} project ``SusTrainable---Promoting Sustainability as a Fundamental Driver in Software Development Training and Education'', no.\ 2020--1--PT01--KA203--078646.}
424 are the revised lecture notes from a course on sustainable \gls{IOT} programming with \gls{MTASK} provided at the 2022 SusTrainable summer school in Rijeka, Croatia, July 4--8, 2022.
425
426 % \paragraph{Contribution}
427 % These revised lecture notes are from a course on sustainable programming using \gls{MTASK} provided at the 2022 SusTrainable summer school in Rijeka, Croatia.
428 % Pieter prepared and taught a quarter of the lecture and supervised the practical session.
429 % I prepared and taught the other three quarters of the lecture, made the assignments and supervised the practical session
430 \end{enumerate}
431
432 \paragraph{Contribution:}
433 The original \gls{MTASK} language, and their initial interpretations were developed by Pieter Koopman and Rinus Plasmeijer.
434 I extended the language, developed the byte code interpreter, the integration with \gls{ITASK}, and the \gls{RTS}.
435 The papers of which I am first author are solely written by me, there were weekly meetings with the co-authors in which we discussed and refined the ideas.
436
437 \subsection{\Fullref{prt:tvt}}
438 \Cref{prt:tvt} is based on a journal paper that quantitatively and qualitatively compares traditional \gls{IOT} architectures with \gls{TOP} \gls{IOT} architectures.
439 This chapter is based on the conference paper and a journal paper extending it:
440 \begin{enumerate}[resume]
441 \item \emph{Tiered versus Tierless \glsxtrshort{IOT} Stacks: Comparing Smart Campus Software Architectures} \citep*{lubbers_tiered_2020}\footnote{This work was partly funded by the 2019 Radboud-Glasgow Collaboration Fund.}\label{enum:iot20} compares traditional tiered programming to tierless architectures by comparing two implementations of a smart-campus application.
442 \item \emph{Could Tierless Programming Reduce IoT Development Grief?} \citep*{lubbers_could_2022}
443 is an extended version of paper~\ref{enum:iot20}.
444 It compares programming traditional tiered architectures to tierless architectures by illustrating a qualitative and a quantitative four-way comparison of a smart-campus application.
445 \end{enumerate}
446
447 \paragraph{Contribution:}
448 Writing the paper was performed by all authors.
449 I created the server application, the \cimtask{} implementation (\glsxtrshort{CWS}), and the \citask{} implementation (\glsxtrshort{CRS});
450 Adrian Ramsingh created the \gls{MICROPYTHON} implementation (\glsxtrshort{PWS}); the original \gls{PYTHON} implementation (\glsxtrshort{PRS}) and the server application were created by \citet{hentschel_supersensors:_2016}.
451
452 \input{subfilepostamble}
453 \end{document}