Research Abstract & Plan

Development of eTamil: A Domain-Specific Language Tailored for Indian Accountants, Auditors, and FinTech Professionals

Abstract

This research proposes the development of eTamil, a domain-specific language (DSL) designed to address the unique needs of Indian accountants, auditors, and FinTech professionals. Leveraging the Tamil language’s syntax and semantics, eTamil aims to facilitate finance-specific computations and data processing tasks. The language introduces specialized keywords and constructs to simplify complex financial operations, ensuring accessibility and efficiency for dravidian language speakers, particularly the Tamil speakers. The study will focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of eTamil, demonstrating its effectiveness through practical applications and case studies.

Introduction

The proliferation of digital financial services necessitates the creation of tools that are both technically robust, regionally relevant, and culturally contextualized. Traditional programming languages often pose a barrier to Indian programmers on finance specific development due to the complexity and lack of domain-specific constructs. eTamil seeks to bridge this gap by offering a language that integrates seamlessly with the workflow of Indian financial professionals and fintech developers, leveraging their linguistic familiarity to enhance productivity and accuracy.

Objectives

1. Design and Development: To design the syntax and semantics of eTamil, incorporating Tamil language constructs and financial terminologies.
2. Implementation: To implement a compiler for eTamil, ensuring compatibility with existing financial systems and data formats.
3. Evaluation: To evaluate the effectiveness of eTamil through case studies, user feedback, and performance metrics.
4. Documentation: To provide comprehensive documentation and tutorials for end-users, facilitating widespread adoption.

Literature Review

The literature review will cover the following areas:

• Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs): Overview of DSLs, their advantages, and successful implementations in various fields.
• Programming Languages for Finance: Examination of existing programming languages and tools used in financial analysis and accounting.
• Language Design Principles: Study of linguistic and cognitive principles relevant to designing programming languages for Indian programmers.
• Cultural Context in Software Development: Exploration of the role of cultural and linguistic context in the adoption and effectiveness of software tools.

Research Methodology

1. Requirement Analysis: Conduct surveys and interviews with Indian accountants, auditors, and FinTech professionals to gather requirements and identify pain points.
2. Language Design: Develop the grammar and syntax of eTamil, integrating mathematical operations and domain-specific keywords (e.g., “itu” for put, “en” for integer).
3. Compiler Development: Implement a compiler that translates eTamil code into executable instructions, ensuring error handling and optimization.
4. Case Studies: Apply eTamil to real-world financial scenarios, documenting its impact on efficiency and accuracy.
5. User Feedback: Collect and analyze feedback from users to refine language constructs, technical features and improve usability.
6. Performance Evaluation: Measure the performance of eTamil in terms of compilation, execution speed, resource utilization, and error rates.

Expected Outcomes

• A fully functional domain-specific language tailored to the needs of Indian financial professionals and fintech developers.
• Improved efficiency and accuracy in financial computations and reporting.
• Increased accessibility of programming tools for Tamil-speaking users and Tamil like language speakers.
• Comprehensive documentation and case studies demonstrating the practical benefits of eTamil.

Timeline

1. Year 1:
   • Requirement analysis, literature review, and initial design of eTamil.
   • Submission of Title & Synopsis, and completion of course work.
   • Development of the compiler and preliminary testing.
2. Year 2:
   • Development of accounting frameworks, Database drivers, and sample/test applications.
   • Case studies, user feedback collection, and refinement of language features.
   • Prepare and publish research articles in scopex indexed publications.
3. Year 3:
   • Enhance the DSL with the integration of Blockchain framework
   • Development of sample/test applications to demonstrate the purpose of the language.
   • Performance evaluation, documentation, and finalization of the thesis.

Conclusion

The development of eTamil represents a significant step towards making programming accessible to a broader audience, particularly in the financial sector. By leveraging the familiarity of the Tamil language, eTamil aims to empower Indian financial professionals with a tool that enhances productivity and accuracy, ultimately contributing to the digital transformation of the industry.

References

• Bhattacharyya, P. (2010). Machine Translation. CRC Press. (Discusses the translation and localization needs that could be relevant for developing a DSL in Indian languages)
• Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. Mouton. (Fundamental concepts in language structure that would inform DSL design)
• Ernst, E. (2003). Higher-Order Attribute Grammars. Springer. (Relevant for the technical aspects of DSL development)
• Srinivasan, R., & Sangal, R. (2009). A Framework for Developing Indic Language NLP Applications. (Relevant for NLP and localization of programming languages)
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Special Publication 500-XXX. (Standards that could be relevant for financial and regulatory compliance in DSLs)
• Madhan Karky (2015), Karky Research Foundation looks at creating an optimal script set for the Tamil language that will be simple to learn, type and display

Literature Survey

Domain-Specific Languages & Frameworks:

• Fowler, M. (2010). Domain-Specific Languages. Addison-Wesley Professional.
• Hudak, P. (1996). “Building Domain-Specific Embedded Languages.” ACM Computing Surveys, 28(4es)
• Pugh, D. (2010). The Essence of Multivariate Thinking: Basic Themes and Methods. Sage Publications.

Financial Standards and Practices (Regulatory & Compliance):

• Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Indian Accounting Standards.
• International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI). RBI Regulations and Guidelines.
• Indian Taxation Laws and Customs Regulations.

Indian Languages, Script Evolution, and Usage Trends:

• Narasimhan, R. (2006). Language Technology: A Reader. CDAC
• Bali, K., Choudhury, M., & Vyas, Y. (2012). “Characterizing the Indian Language Landscape.”
• Bhatia, T. K., & Ritchie, W. C. (2008). The Handbook of Bilingualism. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Das, A., & Gambäck, B. (2014). “Code-Mixing in Social Media Text: The Last Language Identification Frontier?” Computational Linguistics.

Compiler Design and Implementation:

• Aho, A. V., Lam, M. S., Sethi, R., & Ullman, J. D. (2006). Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley.
• Appel, A. W. (2004). Modern Compiler Implementation in Java. Cambridge University Press.
• Klabnik, S., & Nichols, C. (2018). The Rust Programming Language. No Starch Press.

Use of LLVM in DSL Development:

• Lattner, C., & Adve, V. (2004). “LLVM: A Compilation Framework for Lifelong Program Analysis & Transformation.” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Code Generation and Optimization.
• Blockchain and Financial Technologies: Nakamoto, S. (2008). “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” Hyperledger Fabric Documentation. IBM.

This synopsis outlines the key aspects of the proposed PhD research, focusing on the development, implementation, and evaluation of eTamil, a domain-specific language designed to meet the unique needs of Indian financial professionals.