Introducing Enriched Concrete Syntax Trees
This addresses a specific weakness in software metrics for software engineers, but it appears incremental as it builds on existing Concrete Syntax Tree concepts.
The paper tackles the problem of software metrics' strong dependency on input programming language by introducing enriched Concrete Syntax Trees (eCST) as an internal representation, resulting in a step forward in overcoming this weakness and proposing broader applicability in software engineering.
In our earlier research an area of consistent and systematic application of software metrics was explored. Strong dependency of applicability of software metrics on input programming language was recognized as one of the main weaknesses in this field. Introducing enriched Concrete Syntax Tree (eCST) for internal and intermediate representation of the source code resulted with step forward over this weakness. In this paper we explain innovation made by introducing eCST and provide idea for broader applicability of eCST in some other fields of software engineering.