Reduce nested generation routines by moving constructor, child-dispatch, slot, and slot-kind emission into focused helpers. This keeps generator behavior intact while making the source-generator control flow easier to review and maintain.
Assisted-by: OpenCode:openai/gpt-5.5:OpenCode
A slot kind names one child position, so the generator emits a single
typed Slots.X constant for it. A kind used with two different child types
had to widen that constant to AstNode, and the typed GetChildren<T>
accessor then cast the live AstNodeCollection<Concrete> to
AstNodeCollection<AstNode> -- an InvalidCastException waiting for the
first caller (latent today, but the model permitted it).
Make the loose state unrepresentable instead of guarding it at runtime:
DSTG001 errors when a [Slot] kind is declared with more than one child
type. The six kinds that only coincidentally shared a name (Body, True,
False, Initializer, SwitchSection, Variable) are split into precisely
typed kinds; a genuinely either/or position (a lambda body) stays one
declared type, AstNode. Every Slots.X now carries its real element type,
so the GetChildren cast can no longer fail.
Output is unchanged: the Pretty suite stays byte-identical with
CheckInvariant green in DEBUG.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
A single slot always occupies the same flattened index, so filling,
clearing, or replacing it moves no other child -- only the new child's own
index needs setting. The generated single-slot setters now pass that index
to SetChildNode (a compile-time constant when no collection precedes the
slot; SetChild forwards its argument), which assigns childIndex directly and
never invalidates -- mirroring the IL AST's SetChildInstruction(ref, value,
index). Previously a set-from-null could not know the index here and fell
back to invalidating, forcing a later O(children) EnsureChildIndices rebuild.
With the indices now kept current by construction, NextSibling/PrevSibling
inline the validity check and skip the (non-inlinable) EnsureChildIndices
call in the overwhelmingly common already-valid case.
Together these idle the renumber machinery on a System.Private.CoreLib
decompile: EnsureChildIndices calls 53.4M -> 1.6M, actual rebuilds
1.97M -> 183K, elements renumbered 3.40M -> 757K. Output is byte-identical
and the Pretty suite stays green with CheckInvariant validating the
directly-assigned indices after every transform.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Removing a collection element invalidated the parent's whole flattened
index set, so the next sibling navigation rebuilt it in O(children) -- and
that renumber, not the array shift, was the dominant cost: a reverse
(tail-first) removal, which shifts nothing, was still quadratic, isolating
EnsureChildIndices as the culprit.
When a node's only collection is also its last slot it owns the contiguous
range [base, base + Count) with nothing after it, so an element's flattened
index is just base + its local position (base is the slot's declaration
position, since the preceding slots are all single children). On that
fast-path -- which the generator now flags, passing the base index -- Add
indexes only the appended element, Insert/Remove renumber only the shifted
suffix, and IndexOf is base-relative O(1); none of them invalidate. Other
shapes (several collections, or a slot after the collection) keep the
invalidate-and-rebuild fallback. Tail and scattered removal, and removal
during traversal, no longer pay the per-operation renumber.
Microbenchmark, removing every element of an N-element block: tail-first at
N=32000 went 1493 ms -> 0.5 ms (now O(N)); front-first is ~1.6x faster and
no longer renumbers (its residual cost is the inherent array shift). Output
is byte-identical and the Pretty suite stays green with CheckInvariant
validating the maintained indices after every transform.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
The generated GetChildNodes materialized a List<AstNode> (plus a boxed
List.Enumerator at every foreach) for each node, so AstNode.Children and
the visitor's per-node child walk allocated three objects per traversal.
Decompiling System.Private.CoreLib that came to ~1.7 GB of extra garbage,
roughly +7% over the linked-list model the slot tree replaced. A yield
iterator removes the List but trades it for an equally costly per-node
state machine, so it is not enough on its own.
Enumerate children through a by-value struct enumerator over the existing
FirstChild/NextSibling primitives, capturing each child's successor before
it is yielded so a transform may still remove or replace the current child
mid-traversal. AstNodeCollection<T> gets the same struct treatment for a
direct foreach. Child enumeration now allocates nothing, bringing total
allocations back to the linked-list baseline at byte-identical output
(full Pretty suite green with CheckInvariant active).
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
The slot kind is now the canonical typed CSharpSlotInfo<T> in Slots, matched by
object identity (the IL SlotInfo model), instead of a parallel SlotKind enum.
CSharpSlotInfo.Kind points at the canonical shared slot; a Slots constant is its
own kind (null Kind, never read -- only per-node slots are asked for their kind),
so there is no self-reference. Child access (GetChild/GetChildren/SetChild,
GetCollectionByKind, AddChild/InsertChild) and the polymorphic
node.Slot.Kind == Slots.X comparisons key on the canonical reference; the
generated SlotKind enum is removed. No behavior change.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
The generator emits a Slots holder of typed CSharpSlotInfo<T> kind constants (T is
the child type, widened to AstNode for the few kinds reused with several child
types). Call sites whose kind maps to a single type switch from
GetChildByRole<T>(SlotKind.X) to GetChild(Slots.X), inferring the result type from
the slot. The ByRole methods and SlotKind remain for the multi-type Attribute
accessor and the internal add/insert plumbing, removed in following steps.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Add a generic CSharpSlotInfo<T> (T is the child type, the element type for a
collection) and have the generator emit each per-node slot field as the typed
variant. This lets the typed child accessors infer the result type from the slot,
so the explicit type argument can drop out of the SlotKind-based child API in the
following steps. No behavior change -- the typed slots are still consumed through
the non-generic CSharpSlotInfo base.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
A DEBUG-only structural check, the analog of ILInstruction.CheckInvariant, run
after every AST transform in RunTransforms. It recursively asserts that each
required (non-optional) single slot holds a child, every child's Parent points
back, the stored flattened index matches the slot position, and the runtime type
fits the slot, so a transform that corrupts the tree fails at that transform
instead of as a downstream output diff. CSharpSlotInfo gains an IsOptional flag
(emitted by the generator) so the check can tell required from optional slots.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
From a generated-code review. InterpolatedStringExpression.Content carried a leftover
[Slot("Role")] from the old role system -- the only generic 'Role' kind among 141 generated files;
it becomes [Slot("Content")], which also drops 'Role' from the generated SlotKind enum (nothing
referenced it). The generator's internal NameSlots/NullOnEmpty identifiers were stale -- the [NameSlot]
attribute and nullOnEmpty flag they were named after no longer exist (optionality is inferred from the
nullable annotation) -- so they become NameAccessors/IsOptional, matching the optional/required wording
used elsewhere. The *AstType visit-method rename uses EndsWith instead of a Contains substring match.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
The C# syntax tree's name accessors (ParameterDeclaration.Name, GotoStatement.Label,
catch variable, query continuations, ...) are convenience strings over a backing Identifier
token. Names that may be absent are now typed string? and read as null when absent, instead of
a non-null empty-string sentinel; required names stay non-null string. The backing token slot's
nullability follows, and an empty or null assignment clears the token (empty == absent).
Because the property type now carries optionality, the separate [NameSlot] attribute and its
nullOnEmpty flag are redundant: a [Slot] on a string property is a name (child slots are
AstNode-typed, so the type disambiguates), and the generator infers optionality from the
declared nullable annotation -- which a string? declaration already requires #nullable for. The
repeated empty-to-null setter body becomes Identifier.CreateIfNotEmpty. To make the annotation
readable, #nullable enable is turned on across the syntax node files (the directive the inferred
optionality depends on), with the attendant local nullability fixups. Consumers that feed a name
into a non-null slot assert it where the variable structurally has a name.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Enum-typed constructor parameters were emitted via SymbolDisplayFormat.FullyQualifiedFormat so
that an enum in another namespace resolves without a using. For enums declared in the same namespace
as the generated file (ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.Syntax) that produced a redundant
global::ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.Syntax. prefix, e.g. 'global::...Syntax.ClassType classType'.
The prefix is now stripped for the file's own namespace while cross-namespace enums stay qualified.
The global:: on Identifier.Create in NameSlot setters is deliberately kept: those run in expression
position where a string property literally named 'Identifier' (e.g. SimpleType) would otherwise
shadow the type.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
The generated 'public static implicit operator' line was emitted at two tabs, one more
than its own braces and the sibling PatternPlaceholder class, because the verbatim template
hardcoded the leading indentation. Emit it at one tab so the generated members align.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
The per-node .g.cs files are read during debugging and review, so the emitter
now shapes them the way a person would: fixed-slot nodes dispatch child access
through a switch, collection nodes through a readable running-index walk (no dead
trailing decrement), GetChildCount folds its constant terms, and the fully
qualified System.Collections.Generic names collapse behind a using. The visitor
interface and SlotKind enum gain the auto-generated header and #nullable, and all
three writers normalize newlines to LF.
No behavior change: the dispatch logic is identical; only formatting and the
unreachable final decrement differ.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Nodes use nullable reference types now, so the generated null-object
node and its hasNullNode / NeedsNullNode / NullNodeBaseCtorParamCount
plumbing are dead. Drop them and reword the affected comments.
AstNode.Children and the visitors' VisitChildren walked children via
FirstChild/NextSibling, an O(slots) index rescan per step. The generator now
emits GetChildNodes, which materializes the children in slot order in one pass
(O(children)); Children and VisitChildren iterate that. The snapshot makes the
walk tolerant of the visitor removing or replacing the current child (the
mutation pattern the old capture-next loop supported) without re-feeding the
loop.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Each concrete node's constructors are now emitted by the source generator
from its members in source order: single and collection [Slot] children,
the [NameSlot] string, and settable enum scalars (Operator, FieldDirection,
...). It emits the empty ctor (for object initializers), a required-prefix
ctor, one ending at each collection, and the full ctor, with later ctors
forwarding to shorter ones via this(...) and a params[] overload alongside
each IEnumerable<T> one. The hand-written ctors the generator now produces
are removed; scalar/location/Identifier convenience overloads that it cannot
express are kept (e.g. AssignmentExpression(left, right), SimpleType(Identifier),
the string+TextLocation overloads).
Because ctor parameters follow source order, BinaryOperatorExpression and
AssignmentExpression declare Operator between Left and Right so the generated
ctor is the expected (left, op, right). Pure-scalar nodes whose state is not
in slots (e.g. PrimitiveExpression's literal value) are left untouched.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Slot identity already lived in node.Slot/CSharpSlotInfo/SlotKind after
the storage flip, so the parallel Role/Role<T> child model was redundant.
The Role-keyed mutation/query API is reexpressed over SlotKind, and the
role-index packing on AstNode flags is gone.
Because a node's Slot is now derived from its index in its parent rather
than stored on the child, the located-AST reattach in
InsertMissingTokensDecorator must capture the child's slot kind before
Remove() detaches it.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
With every optional slot nullable, the null-object pattern is dead. Generated
non-nullable getters return the backing field directly, which surfaced a last
tier of slots the decompiler legitimately leaves empty (omitted range operands,
an implicitly-typed array creation, unnamed parameters, an unbound generic
argument, and others) and flips them to nullable too. The machinery is then
removed entirely: the per-node null classes, the .Null statics and
VisitNullNode, AstNode.IsNull, the role null object, and Identifier.Null.
AcceptVisitor becomes unconditionally generated, and consumers move from
.IsNull to is null and from unconditional visits to ?.AcceptVisitor.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Optional single-child slots return T? with a real null instead of a role
null-object, taking the C# grammar as the oracle for which slots are optional.
The generator emits the property type as T? and matches it with MatchOptional,
and consumers move from .IsNull to is null / ?.. This covers the optional
statement, member, try-catch, creation-initializer and pattern slots and the
optional NameSlot tokens. A few slots the grammar marks required but the
decompiler legitimately leaves empty (the implicit-element-access target, an
implicitly-typed lambda parameter's type) are flipped to nullable as well.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
A [NameSlot("role")] partial string property makes the generator own the
backing Identifier token slot, the string accessor, and the match term, so a
convenience name string and its hand-written token slot collapse to a single
declaration. A nullOnEmpty option stores a null token for an empty name, used
where the output visitor keys off an absent token. Apply it across every
name-token node.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
NodeType was NRefactory's coarse node category, but only three reads remained
here: two checks now expressed as "is not Trivia" and one debug assert for the
pattern category. Remove the enum, the abstract property, every per-node
override, and the generator's emission, preserving the pattern-placeholder case
through an IPatternPlaceholder marker interface the output-visitor assert
checks. Also remove the unused PrimitiveExpression.AdvanceLocation helper.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Generate DoMatch across the remaining expression, statement, type-member,
type-reference and general-scope nodes, including the inherited
EntityDeclaration name/return-type/attribute match, and stop generating it for
abstract base nodes. Matching every structural member fixes real
under-matching bugs (PointerReferenceExpression ignored its Target;
ExtensionDeclaration matched anything) while computed or derived members are
excluded from matching. PrimitiveExpression and PreProcessorDirective stay
hand-written by design. Pretty output is byte-identical.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Replace the hand-written DoMatch overrides on the expression nodes with
generated ones. The generator matches every real child and structural member,
so several matchers become stricter than the hand-written versions that
under-matched (for example a previously-skipped child or an ignored flag),
while Pretty output is unaffected. Convenience-string identifier slots are
excluded so the name string is matched once rather than also via its token.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Preparation for making optional single-value slots nullable: a role may omit
its null object and a slot may be cleared via SetChildByRole(role, null), and
the generated DoMatch emits MatchOptional for a nullable single child so an
absent child matches correctly. Both are inert until a slot is actually made
nullable.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Turn on #nullable enable across the AST transform pipeline, ahead of
annotating the slot properties themselves. TransformContext now exposes the
nullable CurrentMember/CurrentTypeDefinition/CurrentModule contract already
declared by ITypeResolveContext, and the generated pattern-to-node conversion
returns a non-null node so patterns can be used in collection initializers
without warnings. No IL changes.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Introduce the successor to node.Role for child-slot identity: the generator
emits a CSharpSlotInfo per [Slot], exposed as node.Slot, plus a shared SlotKind
enum for the polymorphic "is this node in an embedded-statement / condition /
base-type slot?" comparisons a per-node identity cannot express. Migrate the
printer and transform position checks from node.Role to node.Slot and
node.Slot.Kind, and read identifier children and role-keyed writes through the
typed properties. Role is still present and is removed later; output is
unchanged.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
The pattern matcher walked collections through INode.Role/FirstChild/
NextSibling, skipping siblings of a different role. Now that each
AstNodeCollection<T> is already the per-role child list, the engine matches two
collections by list index, and INode sheds Role/FirstChild/NextSibling
entirely. A collection exposes its IReadOnlyList<INode> view through a cached
adapter rather than implementing the interface directly, so a typed collection
does not become ambiguous for LINQ. Characterization tests pin the matcher's
behavior first.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Children were kept in a per-node doubly-linked list with the slot accessors
layered over it as a view. Storage now is the slot model: each node stores its
children in generated backing fields, AstNodeCollection<T> is backed by a
List<T>, and the flattened child-index space is owned by generated
GetChildCount/GetChild/SetChild/GetChildSlot members, with sibling navigation,
the role API and Clone re-expressed over them and indices renumbered lazily. A
DEBUG CheckInvariant runs after each transform, the analog of the IL
pipeline's per-transform check, so a transform that corrupts the tree fails at
that transform. Output is unchanged.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Each child of a C# AST node is declared as a [Slot] partial property, and the
source generator emits the accessor bodies and an ordered slot schema
(SlotCount/GetSlotRole/IsCollectionSlot) from them. Generating the schema
keeps slot order from being mis-stated by hand and lets a DEBUG invariant
check declared slot order against document order on every decompile. The node
hierarchy is converted family by family; the EntityDeclaration leaves flatten
their inherited Attributes/ReturnType/NameToken into each leaf's ordered slot
set. Storage stays the NRefactory linked list at this stage, so only the
declaration model changes and output is unchanged.
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8:Claude Code
Introduce a Roslyn source generator that emits the visitor boilerplate for
the C# AST from [DecompilerAstNode]-tagged node declarations: the
IAstVisitor interface, the AcceptVisitor overloads, the pattern-placeholder
nodes, and the initial DoMatch support. AccessorKind lets an accessor's
keyword be chosen independently of its role, an early step toward shedding
the NRefactory role model.
Siegfried Pammer