> No. Just .. no. > > On the off chance that you're serious about that - XML is a data format that > encodes tree-like hierarchical information. > > But if your parser isn't already using a tree-like structure internally, > you're doing something wrong. > > And if it is, there's absolutely no reason to use XML as some weird sort of > intermediary stage.
I've used the "Analysis-Synthesis Model" for the overall design (to "re-invent the wheel" :) ), as I've done lots of times in the past. The Analysis-Synthesis Model is clearly based on a tree-structure. - Lexical Analysis - Parsing/Syntax Analysis - Semantic Analysis - Intermediate Code Generator - Code Optimizer - Code Generator Lexical- and Syntax Analysis is handled in a single pass. (just a reminder) Instead of writing a lot of additional code to work with and to identify the source/tokens, I simply dump all the tokens into a xml format using Regular Expressions search/replace. This takes up to 30 passes for completion and, yes, this is where most of the time is used. >From there on it's straight forward to do any kind of analysis with the >code/tokens. The key is when it gets to the phase of optimization. In this case, the compiler (or should I be fair and call it "the converter"), has a complete "engine" behind it which takes care of all the information in a proper manner. Cutting, moving, merging, passing referenses and occasionally adding additional code is done with ease. It's already possible at that stage to systematically assign (and measure) a "Unit of Fitness" (Genetic Analysis), if I may call it that, to the individual code blocks. By measuring the fitness, the converter knows where to focus to improve performance. After optimization, converting it to HLA obviously opens a Pandora's box of a different kind. You know the rest... To summarize, optimization is taken care of even before convertion to HLA takes place, and that's why I use xml (it's a matter of preference). Technically, thats the basic overview of the operation, and yes, I AM SERIOUS ABOUT THIS! So, be positive... :)
