Latest update

I just checked in revision 109. Uncle is getting close to an alpha release, but it seems there's always just one more little thing to take care of. Ol' Uncle Pareto seems to be have settled in for an extended visit.

The biggest change in this revision is the language. UncleScript itself has been simplified a bit, I've switched to a JavaCC-generated lexer and parser (sorry, Greg - I need EBNF, not being a parser theory devotee myself), and there's now an UncleScriptBuilder to relieve the parser of the heavy lifting. (I tried ANTLR v3, I mean I really tried, but I just don't think it's ready for prime time.)

The Process and Java tasks have been rewritten and tested. The Javac task is currently undergoing a rewrite; the previous Javac task has been renamed "javac-in-proc". (When you run javac in-process with com.sun.tools.javac.Main, you inherit Uncle's classpath. Which is an unfair advantage when you're trying to build Uncle. Bad test. Bad.)

And I've finally written a command-line driver.

So here's the status: I like the UncleScript language, at last. I'm in the middle of testing the tasks, and I'll continue to rewrite those as necessary. I'll have to add at least one more basic capability - the user should be able to choose whether the bookkeeping directories (".uncle") are stored with the targets' managed files or in a user-specified location. I've yet to satisfy myself that building a real program (say, Uncle itself) with Uncle is intuitive and safe, but I'm getting closer.

Alpha in September? I'm working on it ...