Can I get an XML AST of C/C++/Java code without compiling it?

Question

I want to create an XML file with AST representation of source code, but without compiling it. I didn't find any sufficient solution so far. Here is what I tried:

Using XML printer in clang - clang -cc1 -ast-print-xml - it would be nice, but it was removed from clang
srcML toolkit, which in theory works well, but has poor parser (for Java it's not even fully 1.5-compatible)

Are there any other alternatives?

FWIW, the "XML" that was printed by Clang, wasn't really XML. — Ira Baxter
– Ira Baxter, Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 4:06

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:34:04Z

3

For Java, see What would an AST (abstract syntax tree) for an object-oriented programming language look like?

For C, see get human readable AST from c++ code

Both of these are produced by one engine: our DMS Software Reengineering Toolkit. DMS also has a full C++11 parser that can produce similar XML. (EDIT Jan 2016: now full C++ 14 for GCC and Visual C++).

I don't think XML is really a good idea: it is enormous and klunky, and the analysis tools you can bring to bear on it are ... what? XSLT: That's not very useful for analyzing programs. Read the XML into a DOM and climb over that? You'll find that you are missing lots of useful support (symbol tables, etc.); AST's are just not enough. See my essay on Life After Parsing (check my bio or google).

You are better off using a set of integrated machinery that provides all kinds of consistent support for analyzing (multiple) programming languages (using the ASTs as a foundation). This is what DMS is designed to do.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:34

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answered Aug 26, 2014 at 21:33

Ira Baxter

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2 Comments

Kao Over a year ago

Heh, I felt that you will write an answer. I saw your answers in related questions already. Anyway, thanks :)

Ira Baxter Over a year ago

You asked if there were any alternatives. I'd be happy for other people to point out DMS, but they don't.

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