Duration: 33:19

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Code generation has a long tradition in Java-land. Modeling languages and code generators have advanced in recent years and have become a very helpful tool to get rid of structural boilerplate. On the downside, using modeling languages, you typically leave the fancy Java IDE behind and cannot mix and match your modeling language with real code. Additionally the turn around times when evolving a domain specific language and a corresponding code generator are often not good and the distribution of the plug-ins for a modeling language add a significant burden to the project.

For developer centric code generation, Xtend's active annotations are a much more lightweight and simpler approach. It lets you implement code generators and DSLs as a library, so you can easily enhance and distribute your code generation solution. No need to install a new plug-in everytime you have changed your DSL or the generator. And the best is, that the Eclipse IDE is fully aware of your DSL and will adapt the changes as you type.

In this session you will learn about active annotations in Xtend and how to apply them in any standard Java project.