tree-gen

tree-gen is a C++ and Python code generator for tree-like structures common in parser and compiler codebases. The tree is described using a simple and concise language, so all the repetitive C++ and Python stuff can be generated. This includes serialization and deserialization to CBOR, allowing easy interoperation between C++ and Python.

File organization

• generator: source and private header files for the generator program.
• src: source and private header files for the support library.
• include: public header files for the support library.
• examples: examples showing how to use tree-gen. These are also used as tests, and their content and output is directly used to generate the ReadTheDocs documentation.
• tests: additional test cases for things internal to tree-gen.
• doc: documentation generation for ReadTheDocs.

Dependencies

• C++ compiler with C++17 support (gcc 11, clang 14, msvc 17)
• CMake >= 3.12
• git
• Python 3.x plus pip, with the following package:
  • conan >= 2.0

ARM specific dependencies

We are having problems when using the m4 and zulu-opendjk Conan packages on an ARMv8 architecture. m4 is required by Flex/Bison and zulu-openjdk provides the Java JRE required by the ANTLR generator. So, for the time being, we are installing Flex/Bison and Java manually for this platform.

• Flex >= 2.6.4
• Bison >= 3.0
• Java JRE >= 11

Usage and "installation"

tree-gen is a very lightweight tool, intended to be requested as a Conan package from a C++ project.

def requirements(self):
    self.requires("tree-gen/1.0.9")

And then used something like:

find_program(TREE_GEN_EXECUTABLE tree-gen REQUIRED)

# To generate the files from your tree description file:
generate_tree_py(
    "${TREE_GEN_EXECUTABLE}"
    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/input-tree-specification.tree"
    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/generated-header-file.hpp"
    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/generated-source-file.cpp"
    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/generated-python-file.py"
)

# To add generated-source-file.cpp to your program:
add_executable/add_library(my-software "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/generated-source-file.cpp")

# To add generated-header-file.hpp to the search path:
target_include_directories(my-software PRIVATE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}")

target_link_libraries(my-software PRIVATE tree-gen::tree-gen)

and CMake Should™ handle everything for you.

For usage information beyond this, Read The Docs.