XDOCLET
I am considering to let the group use XDoclet, a nifty open source tool that searches the comments of the source code to generate other source code as well. I believe this will leverage the creation of the Java port of UVLE since Java web development, relative to its kin such as PHP, Python, or Perl, is very code-intensive and needs a lot of "preambles" before really seeing any actual work done. To put XDoclet simply, one would put attribute-oriented comments on a source code, and Xdoclet will parse these codes to create notoriously verbose files such as web.xml, struts-config.xml, servlets, JSP tag definitions, among others.I find these tool a joy to use. Not only does this solve the problem of Java taking too long for development, it may also solve the problem of maintaining one struts-config.xml/web.xml among five members (that is, constant integration). This has been a problem in our CS192 (Software Engineering) class, where virtually everybody edits the struts-config.xml file, resulting in corrupted file and lost work. I believe that each one must have some independence in how one would implement his/her work, and I believe a central file that is often edited defeats the concept of modularity. By using Xdoclet, one would just like to add comments on the source, and Xdoclet will be the one to integrate ALL of these entries in the struts-config, and Xdoclet will be the one to generate it.
In the next post, I will be demonstrating the power of the XDoclet through an example. Also, I am considering to hold a knowledge sharing session about using XDoclet.
posted by Ardee Aram @ 7:34 AM
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