Hofstadter Documentation
Welcome to the hof documentation site.
hof is a code generator
The hof cli reads in modular generators and the designs which use them to produce technology agnostic output. The goal is to enable code generation at scale that fits into your current development practices.
Fits in means you can use any set of technologies, work directly in and modify the generated code, update designs and regenerate the output, all without disrupting or losing your own code. You should also be able to integrate into existing applications without major changes.
At scale starts with generating large portions of your application across the many technologies and tiers of your stack. It also means that you should be able to share, update, and treat both designs and generators like any other dependency.
What can you do with hof?
Generate anything
Applications all start as files and hof generates directories of files.
You can generate the source files, configuration, deployment, and CI files needed.
If it’s made of files, you can generate it with hof.
Use your own tools
Developers have their own preferences for tools from IDEs, languages, and platforms.
hof is a cli tool that can work with any and all of these and will never force you to use a clunky UI to build applications.
Consolidate the data model
The same data model appears at each level of the tech stack. You should only have to write it down once, as a single-source of truth. More than just the shape, this should also include the rules.
Capture common code and application patterns
Whether it is writing api handlers, CRUD, client libraries, or data validation, there are many patterns per data model. There are also application wide patterns. When starting server setup like logging and wiring up the router.
Manage model and application versions.
Data models evolve with an application and need management. From updating the code and databased to deployment updates and supporting older clients, you can have multiple versions being referenced. You latest backend will need to handle many previous versions.
Work directly in the (re)generated code
With hof you write custom code directly in the generated output, where it naturally belongs. Your final code should look the same. When you change your data model or designs, hof uses diff3 to ensure your code is left in place and
Share and control modules with dependency management
Sharing models and code generation is core to hof and central to solving problems of interoperability between different teams and services. Both design and generators are managed with versions and dependency management.
Apply fleet wide fixes and updates
Deploying shared security and bug fixes across many applications should be easier. This should apply equally for improvements in our code patterns and practices.
Extensible generators and models
Both generators and models can be combined through dependencies and imports. You can extend, override, or otherwise customize as you need. They are separate from the tool so there is no need to change hof to enable new technologies or patterns.
We call this High Code development.
Higher levels of abstraction, iteration, collaboration, productivity, and velocity for application developers.