On 25 August 2010 07:51, Richard O'Keefe
On Aug 22, 2010, at 7:34 PM, Jesse Schalken wrote:
Every software project which I've worked on that used a code generator turned into a nightmare, because when we find we need to change something about the generator's output, all the already generated code has to be updated manually while at the same time maintaining all of the unique modifications that have been since the code was first generated. It's a horrible duplication of program logic and maintenance work.
If you need to change something about a generator's output, you do it (always!) by changing the generator's input, or by changing the generator. Then you *re*generate the code. There should never *be* any "unique modifications" to the output of a code generator.
Yes, and if your ad-hoc changes cannot be expressed in the actual generated code, then you may wish to re-think what you're generating (what's the point of generating it if you have to edit it anyway?). -- Ivan Lazar Miljenovic Ivan.Miljenovic@gmail.com IvanMiljenovic.wordpress.com