Artifex

Artifex is a pre-processor for PHP. It aims to generate PHP code in a very simple and intuitive way.

Syntax

Artifex syntax is heavily inspired by C preprocessors, but instead of starting with # (which is a comment in PHP), they starts with #*

#* $foo = $foo + 1

Artifex also support multiline in a convinient way.

#*
# $foo = $foo + 2
# $bar = $foo + $foo->xxx();

In order to replace a value, it must be surrounded by __, for instance:

<?php
#* $foo = rand()
function getRandomOnce() {
  return __foo__;
}

#* $foo = {'foo': 'bar'}
function getArray() {
  return __@foo__;
}

The syntax is heavily inspired by PHP, although there are some differences:

1. The semicolon is not needed (they are optional).
2. Any string which is not assigned will be printed out. #* "hello there" is equal to #* print("hello there")
3. Curly Brackets are not valid, instead there is a generic end token to tell where a block ends
4. Variables that are prepend with a @ caracter means that we want to representate its value (same as calling var_exports).
5. It supports json.

Iterators

So far Artifex support foreach

<?php

class __foo__ {
  #* foreach(['foo', 'bar'] as $id => $name)
  function get__name__() {
    return "I'm a the getter of __id__ => __name__";
  }
  #* end
}