[Development] Toolability of mixing QML and JS

[Thomas Hartmann]

Hi,

Am 26/06/2013 15:47, schrieb Rutledge Shawn:
>
> On 26 Jun 2013, at 3:27 PM, Thomas Hartmann wrote:
>>
>> The problem with that approach is that an AST is read only by design.
>
> Why does it have to be that way?


By Design. ;)

Abstract syntax trees are a data structure widely used in compilers, due 
to their property of representing the structure of program code.

An AST is a purely syntactical representation of the source and tightly 
coupled with the grammar.

The AST is the output of a parser and therefore a read-only structure.

Any data structure that is modifiable and reflects the changes in the 
source code should be called DOM or similar.

I just found out that they seem to mix up the terms DOM and AST in the 
Eclipse world. I think not making this distinction is confusing.

In the case of QML we have a read-only AST and it is designed to be 
read-only.

A DOM is a lot more complex then a pure AST and of course it has access 
to an AST on the lower levels. In our case the Model/DOM is also 
significantly more abstract then the AST and hides several syntactical 
details, that are of no interest on the level of a UI designer.

Kind Regards,
Thomas Hartmann