Adding Dimension Analysis to Java as a Composable Language Extension

Abstract

In this paper we describe a language extension that adds dimension analysis to Java. Dimension analysis can be used to check that values that represent physical measurements such as length and mass are not used inconsistently. What distinguishes this work from previous work that adds dimension analysis to programming languages is that here the extension is implemented as a composable language extension. This means that it can easily be combined with other extensions, possibly developed by other parties, to create an extended implementation of Java with new features that address concerns from several different domains.