Java could use code templates.

Question

Hi,
I have often wondered why Java does not have a facility for code generation. It could be simple, like templates. For example, I am tired of writing getter and setter functions that do nothing but return or set the value of a member field. What I would like to see is something like a preprocessor but more powerful. Here is some sample code:
(Template definitions)
<template name="get">
public <value ref="type"/> get <value ref="name"/> () {
return this.<value ref="name"/>;
</template>
<template name="set">
public void set <value ref="name"/>(<value ref="type"/> in) {
this.<value ref="name"/> = in;
</template>
(Template uses)
<use template="get" name="customer" type="string"/>
<use template="set" name="customer" type="string"/>
(Resulting code)
public String getCustomer() {
return this.customer;
public void setCustomer(String in) {
this.customer = in;
This could have applications for generating code for connecting to JDBC databases as well.
-mephtu

Answer 1

mephtu wrote:
Hi,
I have often wondered why Java does not have a facility for code generation. It could be simple, like templates. For example, I am tired of writing getter and setter functions that do nothing but return or set the value of a member field. Then one or both of the the following is true.
1. You are over using setters/getters
2. You are creating boiler plate code anyways so learn how to generate code and start doing that (that is NOT the same as templates.)
>
This could have applications for generating code for connecting to JDBC databases as well.I have been using code generation since about the time java first came into existance. And that was about the time when templates first gained wide acceptance (using different implementations) in C++.
Templates are not needed for code generation and actually there isn't any point since one certainly doesn't need to worry about typing.