Compile vs Runtime processing

[Frontrider]

After tackling the problem, I reached the following conclusion: I did some annotation processing in the past, but this task was a bit different from that. I'll open a few more issues on exact details later. (it's 2am when I'm writing it)

I came up with the following versions: Runtime: We write a lib that pulls in minecraft, and the mod than processes all the blocks, in a similar way that we see now. Seems easier to create, but might can easily end up being harder to use. pros:

• we can use it on existing code
• very little modifications are required on the mod's side

cons:

• annotations must be there at runtime (can be cleaned up in the released jar)
• we will still need a lot of boilerplate
• can only generate data, and nothing else.

Compile time: With this approach, we'll have a bit harder time at first, because we need more metadata. But, it's more powerfull than runtime generation, because we can roam more freely in the code. pros:

• we can eliminate most (if not all) of the boilerplate code
• I believe we can also make our mods easier to update, by simply updating the boilerplate once.
• Later we could even generate fabric/forge artifacts, if it comes to it (and if it's possible) by generating the interfaces required to bridge our code to either of them.
• Leaves no garbage in our code, no extra work required

cons:

• we have to adapt different coding techniques to use it to it's fullest
• it will not compile without a working processor
• we might still end up being hacky (but it won't be visible when we use it)
• some things will be less intuitive (going "backwards" to the problem)
• we have to be carefull, we can not end up with requiring IDE plugins for it to work. (lombok)

[LemmaEOF]

If we did autojson at compiletime, we'd probably need to write a Gradle plugin, so it'd work with all IDEs. With runtime, we could also put all the boilerplate code in the autojson lib, yeah?

[Frontrider]

We don't need a gradle plugin. You add the dependency as a processor. For the "runtime" version you need at least a script plugin.

[Frontrider]

You need a plugin, if you don't want to leave this stuff in the mod after release.