[SrcML] API redesign

[Dennis W. <den...@in...>]

So,

we have been talking about what changes to make to the API. After today,
the most recent stat would be this I guess:

Replacing elements of the DOM tree still is the main part of the "API".
API elements will implement interfaces to provide functionality, so
languages with different syntax and equal semantics can be handlen
without much hassle.
For example: SrcML currently has a loop tag which stands for all kinds
of loops (while, for etc. language-independent ) - if I'm wrong here
correct me please. So if to language share a similar "for" concept which
contains a init part, a condition part and a "action" part, both will
replace the DOMElements with their implementations (if neccessary) -
with both implementing a special "for" interface which allows access to
those 3 parts. 
An application therefore needn't care too much of what underlying
language is used, as long as the semantics are equal.

That means every supported language will have a "helper" class which
provides the means to transform the DOM tree. 
(As a sidenote to Frank: thinking about this will also provide
us the means to add things like refactoring - as we discussed
yesterday, and this still seems to be able to support a pluggable
structure as those interfaces are provided with SrcMl while the
language plugins might be loaded).

I think Frank is as eager as I am to know what other people think about
this ?

-
Dennis