[mckinney]

Manifold hooks into the Java compiler via the javac plugin API. This is similar to the way annotation processors work, but without the overhead of additional passes (or rounds) in the compiler. The plugin route also provides access to earlier stages of the compiler, for example this is how Manifold's string interpolation feature works. The overall details are a bit deep and dark for a comment, however ;)

[brabel]

I've played with the compiler's API before and found it incredibly difficult to work with... and completely undocumented... how did you manage to get through that? Great job!

[mckinney]

Thank you! After I got past the initial shock with the javac codebase (it's an unusual design) I came to appreciate it. Given it's age and the number of revisions it has undergone, it holds up pretty well. But, yeah, building Manifold required a bit of determination.