CppGen - Ugur Buyukdurak

Project Background

Project Definition: A project that aims to shorten C++ development time by automatic code generation. This project targets people who don't have access to full-featured C++ IDEs on the market. C++ language has some strict syntax rules with which not everybody can do everything right every time. This, of course, would mean compiler errors and frustrated programmers. Even if a programmer typed everything correctly, he would still be wasting his time with extra typing because of C++ header and implementation file mechanism. More typing means more work, and the more it gets longer, the more mistakes can be made along the way. Automatic code generation zeros the chance of making mistakes when writing implementation(.cpp) of a declaration file(.h) unless base header file is wrong.

Starting Point: I originate this idea from CS 240 Data Structures Class where I had to code in a complete Linux environment without a full featured IDE. There was no syntax highlighting, type checking or anything similar. There was just a raw text editor and a command line compiler. Compiler would always complain I typed something wrong, and say I needed to fix something. Problems were mainly caused by some variables or methods of a class instance that didn't match what it was declared as in another file. So I thought, generating some source code from base code would ease my job a lot further so I could focus on what I was doing.

The Real Work: Although I had the idea that generating cpp (C++ implementation files) from header files would be great, implementing the project was a serious challenge for me. Even though I had the idea in mind, there were lots of gaps in my mind that had to be filled. Was I going to implement my own compiler, or was I going to use existing tools to achieve what I wanted? If I wanted to implement my own compiler, how could I do that or if I wanted to use existing tools what were they?

The real work has never been coding since coding is all about knowing particular syntax rules and general flow of a programming language with some fundamental understanding. Real challenge was to figure out ways in which intended goal could be accomplished which required long hours wasted for finding right tools.

Another big challenge after figuring out how something could be done was to understand how these "right tools" worked. With several months spent trying to understand a Python library and a program both related to dumping XML of a C++ file and reading it the XML dump file, I was finally ready to do something useful and real. It wasn't "in mind" anymore. It had already gone out of mind.

After 3-4 months of research and understanding, I was finally able to code the project. The time it took for me to code the project was just "one" month. It was actually much shorter but I had other things I did in the meantime.

To develop something is a challenge but to deploy it is another challenge. By knowing just pure code doesn't help to use an operating system efficiently and correctly. Computers are all about operating systems. So it is crucial to know to use them in a way that fits your needs. I had completed courses and received two certification for Linux System Administration before I ever needed to deploy my project on the web. The skills I have gained during the System Administration really helped me manage my project efficiently. I was able to make it online in just one day.

The point I am trying to make is that it wasn't hard coding or deploying the project, but hard part was the time passed researching and learning and gathering all these different things to bring one meaningful thing into existence.

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Some C++ IDE's already provide these features but also charge people for their features. Other problem about IDEs is that they have to be downloaded and installed on a machine. My design of code generation is completely online and open to everybody without any kind of charge.

CppGen is also reliable in a way that it doesn't implement its own compiler but rather uses recognized tools used in computer world to make its own thing happen. There is little chance that building blocks that make CppGen will cause problems from the ground.

Will be continued