Code Generation in Action [Paperback]

Jack Herrington D. (Author)

Book Description

Series: In Action | Publication Date: July 1, 2003

Covering technique and implementation for building code for complex applications frameworks, this book demonstrates how to build high-quality output that is consistent and maintainable. Lessons on abstracting the design of the code so that multiple outputs can be created from a single abstract model of the application functionality are provided. Techniques that range from using simple code processors to handle common coding problems to creating more elaborate and complex generators that maintain entire application tiers are covered. Topics such as building database access, user interface, remote procedure, test cases, and business logic code are also addressed, as is code for other system functions. Although code generation is an engineering technique, it also has an impact on engineering teams and management, an aspect of code generation that is covered in depth in this resource.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jack Herrington is an engineer, author and presenter who lives and works in the Bay Area. His mission is to expose his fellow engineers to new technologies. That covers a broad spectrum, from demonstrating programs that write other programs in the book Code Generation in Action. Providing techniques for building customer centered web sites in PHP Hacks. All the way writing a how-to on audio blogging called Podcasting Hacks. All of which make great holiday gifts and are available online here, and at your local bookstore. Jack also writes articles for O'Reilly, DevX and IBM Developerworks.

Jack lives with his wife, daughter and two adopted dogs. When he is not writing software, books or articles you can find him on his bike, running or in the pool training for triathlons. You can keep up with Jack's work and his writing at http://jackherrington.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; Revised edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930110979
• ISBN-13: 978-1930110977
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Coding Theory

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book with the right perspective and plenty of examples, October 30, 2003

By 

Zen Micro User (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Code Generation in Action (Paperback)

The writing is precise and clear with annotated examples everywhere. Positioning and justification of various techniques is very compelling.

The author's classification of various forms of active code generation clearly elucidates the potential of Code Generation. Usage of templates for code generation is an excellent suggestion. Explanations on various code snippets and regex macros are simply second to none. Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 10 are a must read for every developer.

Having implemented a large-scale database conversion from IDMS to DB2 (schema, data dictionary, run time and programs) using home grown automated generators in the past, I really enjoyed reading Chapter 10. I completely agree with the assertions made there and I am impressed by the way the author addresses common concerns. This chapter documents a practical approach to ease the burden of writing repetitive code for code heavy frameworks. Schema Oriented Code Generation is a practical approach to code generation. I also find various references in this Chapter and others extremely valuable.

The author has shown that with sufficient metadata about a system, a significant portion of the repetitive coding tasks relating to data access, user interface, test and documentation can be automated in a consistent manner using custom code generators.

It is refreshing to see code snippets in Ruby. The author's selection of Ruby becomes self evident after reading the various code snippets.

I find this to be a very compelling book and a must have for architects and seasoned developers!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a dedicated book on the subject, November 29, 2003

By 

Foti Massimo (Vezia (Switzerland)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Code Generation in Action (Paperback)

I embraced code generators long time ago, so I was more than happy to finally found a dedicated book on the subject, since this is almost unexplored topic. The author clearly has a solid understanding of the topic, and manages to deliver a compelling book, with an excellent flow, where each chapter builds on previous concepts and ideas.
All the code snippets and regular expression samples are explained in a very clean, detailed way. I was pleased to see that many examples were non-trivial, covering concrete, real world, implementations. Herrington uses Ruby as an implementation language; you may like it or not, but what really matters here are the concepts, not the syntax and even if you don't know Ruby (like me), you will find the code pretty easy to follow.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introductory material on code generation, December 21, 2003

By 

Lars Bergstrom "LarsBerg" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Code Generation in Action (Paperback)

The introduction and motivation are quite compelling, though a bit more detail on the dismissal of passive code generators (i.e. wizards) and focus on active code generators would be nice. The examples are also quite practical and seem high quality, though the use of Ruby is going to be a barrier to some.

There was one guest-written chapter that might as well have been elided, or should at least have been more edited to integrate cleanly. It repeated a lot of what had been said earlier, and could've just jumped straight to the point instead.

Finally, the code samples were a little repetitive in places. I would've preferred the book were shorter, with more info at the level between high-level and code (i.e. what does it make sense to paramaterize, and how should your generator work) rather than focusing either at the high level of 'architecture' or the low-level of 'how a single variable replacement works'. Still, an excellent book, and quite a good introduction for those who don't use code generators already.