Java: library for simple source code re-creation / copying

Question

I am looking for a library which would simplify the process of copying parts of the code from one project to another. Copying of certain parts of the code which belong to the same file is not required. I am aware that there exists some code generators which would enable me to build the generated code from scratch programatically, but I am looking for a library which would enable me to generate already hand-coded code elsewhere.

I would prefer an annotation-based tool which would enable me to "tag" the classes/files/packages I would like to copy. Something like this:

@CopyCode
class Foo {
  ...
}

File destinationDirectory;
...
new CodeCopier().copyAllAnnotatedFiles(destinationDirectory);

or at least something like:

Package package;
...
new CodeCopier().copyPackage(package, destinationDirectory);

Expected behavior: The source code of the file which contains the "tagged" code should be copied to the destination directory (which is another Java project), with all the directory/package structure maintained.

Is there any library which would be helpful here?

If not, what is your advice, how should I implement my own "code copier" and what libraries would come in handy?

Answer 1

If you only want to copy the files - don't do it. Move them to a library and use that library with different projects.

If you have to modify the code while copying, I'd recommend FMPP. Here you can define a model from some custom properties and access the model values to insert them into the templates you want to copy. I use this technique for creating new projects that have the same structure and insert the project name and some other individual properties into the generated code.