What is Zontroy Code Generator?
Definition
Zontroy is a technology for generating source code. Zontroy Code Generator includes a functional IDE, Console Application and a code generation programming language.
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Background Information
Source code is what makes a computer program essentially, and it is produced by developer(s). To produce source code, developers write and develop code which is composed of sets of instructions that the computer understands and operates according to. It is not easy to write thousands of lines of code, so there are tools to make this process easier and faster such as frameworks. A framework, as the name suggests, provide a framework for developers, which contains pre-written and well-working code parts that can be used as a part of source code for very common procedures in different projects. Developers use frameworks as a code template and fill in the empty parts with their code. Since these frameworks provide almost the same code which otherwise is written by developers manually, it provides great benefit and efficiency. Today, a lot of frameworks are available for many different kinds of projects. However, this is not the only way to make development process more efficient. There are other tools which aim the same goal. Among them are the source code generators. Day by day, these tools are gaining popularity among developers. For most software projects, developers use a database, a working environment which is usually an IDE, their source code which they write by using programming languages and other tools helping to produce source code efficiently. Zontroy is in this final category and works together with the other components. What it does is basically producing code automatically which otherwise is going to be written by hand. It takes a piece of code as input and gives code as output. The input code is written by the developer, and the output code is produced by Zontroy automatically. After this, the developer can use the output code as he or she likes. Based on the content of the project, it can produce up to 50%, or even more, of the source code automatically. For further information, you can read about automatic programming on Wikipedia and generative programming on researchgate.net which are two fundamental concepts for code generation.
How does Zontroy work?
Zontroy can be used from its own interface or from the command line of popular IDEs such as Visual Studio Code and Eclipse. Whatever the developer’s choice is, in order to generate code with Zontroy, he or she must start a Zontroy project first.
At this step, the developer chooses the project type he or she wants to work with. Zontroy can produce code based on database entities or entity classes. The developer must also decide which programming language is going to be used in the project. Zontroy supports all of them. It is possible to start a Zontroy project by using one of the Zontroy templates which are pre-written code packages, ready to use with Zontroy. They function like frameworks. Zontroy generates code based on the input code which is written by the developer, and these templates function as the input code. Technically, it is possible to produce a software project without writing any code with Zontroy Generator and Zontroy Templates.
After choosing the right type and creating the project, the developer should add a code generation file into the project. These are Zontroy specific file types to determine the format of the output code. There are three of these file types: Zontroy Single File, Zontroy Repeating File, and Zontroy Inner Repeating File. Zontroy Repeating File is used to produce a piece of code multiple times in a single file. The purpose of Zontroy Repeating File is to produce a code file multiple times with code inside. Finally, Zontroy Inner Repeating File is used to produce a code file with code inside and the folder containing the file together multiple times.
After adding the right file into the project, the developer now can write the input code inside that file. At this step, the developer writes the code he or she wants to generate for their database entities, entity classes or even a virtual entity in the desired programming language. Zontroy Language is also used here. Zontroy Language is a code generation focused programming language, and it is used to determine which parts of the input code is going to be customized during code generation process. If the developer wants to generate code based on database entities, for example, he or she can get the output code for the chosen database entities, and the code for each entity is going to be customized.
The final step is to generate code. This is done simply by clicking generate button or running generate command. After the code is generated, the developer can use the output code however they like. Zontroy puts the generated code into the project folder whish is designated by the developer.
This process can be applied many times during the software development process based on the the developer’s needs. Each time, the developer will get code parts he or she needs easily and quickly.
Advantages
Zontroy is easy-to-use and user-friendly. An average developer can learn how to use Zontroy completely in only a few hours. This quick learning process brings a huge benefit however. With Zontroy, a developer can save lots of working hours as he or she is able to generate parts of source code automatically with Zontroy.
Zontroy supports all programming languages (Java, C, C++, Python, C#, Visual Basic .NET, PHP, JavaScript, SQL, Ruby etc.), most common database types (PostgreSQL, Oracle, MSSQL and MySQL), and all working environments. This provides great flexibility and freedom for developers. They can write their source code in any programming language they want, they can work with any database, and they can use any working environment they like.
Zontroy offers an independent interface as well as a console application, so a developer can use it as he or she likes. It is possible to use Zontroy without leaving the IDE used. As output code, Zontroy gives what the developer wants and does this in the way the developer wants. A single developer or a team can use Zontroy for their projects. It can be used for both new projects and ongoing projects. In short, it is made for developers and provides everything for a comfortable use.
Zontroy is safe. It doesn’t mess with the database, doesn’t add anything to it or delete anything from it. Every piece of code generated is going to be under the project folder in the location specified by the developer.
Moreover, Zontroy has a marketplace where you can find free or paid templates which are basically frameworks ready-to-use with Zontroy. Combined with the power of code generation, these additional tools increase the efficiency of development process greatly. The marketplace is growing continually, and other developers can also write Zontroy templates which they can provide for free or sell on the marketplace.
