Proposal: Javac Abstract Syntax Tree Viewer

[Chris Newland]

Hi Jan,

Would your AST tool be written in Java? JITWatch is uses Java 7 features
and has a JavaFX UI which may be a hurdle to getting it into code-tools.

Given that the other code tools are tightly focussed perhaps we'd be
better keeping them as separate projects and looking at a possible
integration further down the line?

Kind regards,

Chris

> Hi Chris,
>
> On 05/02/2014 02:55 PM, Chris Newland wrote:
>> Hi Jan,
>>
>> Do you mean something like this:
>> http://www.eclipse.org/jdt/ui/astview/index.php
>
> Yes, something like that (inspired more by the NetBeans version of
> thereof, and providing some more information about javac internal states).
>
>>
>> I'm also working on a tool as part of the Adoption Group
>> (https://wiki.openjdk.java.net/display/Adoption/Main) that may be
>> suitable
>> for code-tools.
>>
>> I don't mean to hijack the thread but there may be some crossover.
>>
>> I've built a tool called JITWatch[1] for visualising the result of
>> HotSpot's LogCompilation output but it can also be used for more general
>> bytecode analysis and I think an AST viewer would be a great addition.
>>
>> Happy to work together on this if you like?
>
> Not sure how big is the overlap (analysis of compile-time data compared
> to analysis of run-time data), but if it would make sense, we should
> collaborate. What are your plans on this?
>
> Thanks,
>      Jan
>
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Chris Newland
>> @chriswhocodes
>>
>> [1] https://github.com/AdoptOpenJDK/jitwatch/wiki
>>
>>
>>> Hi Volker,
>>>
>>> I was not considering that so far. I might have been confusing saying
>>> "graphical". What I meant so far was a GUI, not painting the AST as a
>>> graph. My current prototype is simply a text pane showing the source
>>> code and a tree view showing the AST for the source code.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>       Jan
>>>
>>> On 05/02/2014 07:48 AM, Volker Simonis wrote:
>>>> Hi Jan,
>>>>
>>>> will this new tool integrate with and/or reuse parts of the Ideal
>>>> Graph
>>>> Visualizer [1], [2] already used in HotSpot and Graal?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Volker
>>>>
>>>> [1] http://ssw.jku.at/General/Staff/TW/igv.html
>>>> [2]
>>>> https://wikis.oracle.com/display/HotSpotInternals/IdealGraphVisualizer
>>>>
>>>> On Monday, April 28, 2014, Jan Lahoda <jan.lahoda at oracle.com
>>>> <mailto:jan.lahoda at oracle.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>      Hi,
>>>>
>>>>      I would like to propose a tool for inclusion to the Code Tools
>>>> project:
>>>>
>>>>      ---
>>>>      Tool Name: Javac Abstract Syntax Tree Viewer
>>>>
>>>>      Summary: Graphical viewer for inspection of AST, and other data,
>>>>      produced by the standard Java compiler, javac.
>>>>
>>>>      Proposed By: Jan Lahoda
>>>>
>>>>      Rationale:
>>>>      The way javac models source code is not always easy to grasp,
>>>>      despite all attempts to make it as convenient as possible. Being
>>>>      able to actually see and inspect the AST and related information
>>>>      using a convenient UI is therefore very useful.
>>>>
>>>>      Hereby, a GUI tool to visualize javac ASTs and related
>>>> information
>>>>      is proposed for the Code Tools project. The primary target
>>>> audience
>>>>      of the tool are clients using the javac source code modeling
>>>> APIs.
>>>>      Secondary target audience are javac developers themselves. The
>>>> tool
>>>>      should therefore also support inspection of javac internal
>>>> aspects
>>>>      of the model.
>>>>      ---
>>>>
>>>>      Thanks,
>>>>           Jan
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>