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Using XML to wrap Java source code

I'd like to know what it would take (I'm sure a lot) to be able to use XML to wrap Java source code. The idea is to be able to use the features and facilities of XML to define the source code so that the source code could be queried with something like XPATH. For example, for requirements tracability to discretely define elements to properly identify source code that supports a given customer feature. The ability to run a query against the source code would make support a lot easier. Obviously, you can achieve the same results with other means, but not nearly as interesting possibilities.

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Take a look at JavaML (http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/gjb/JavaML/).

Most programming languages are based on formal grammars and have tree representations known as AST's (Abstract Syntax Trees). The AST for Java is available through tools like JavaCC and JJTree (https://javacc.dev.java.net/).

This was first published in April 2004

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