[cfe-dev] clang-{modernize, tidy} service for github repositories?

[Philip Reames]

On 12/06/2014 09:46 AM, Richard wrote:
> Has anyone considered making clang-modernize/clang-tidy available
> as a service   for github repositories?
>
> I was thinking something where you authorize the service to use your
> repository, similar to the way <http://travis-ci.org> is authorized.
> Then you can go to a web form and pick the transformations you'd like
> to have clang-modernize run (or clang-tidy or whatever) and then it
> generates a pull request with the changes.
>
> I'm always trying think of ways to make refactoring for C++ more
> available :-).
I've spent some time thinking about something along these lines. Rather 
than focusing on a one time request, I was thinking more along the lines 
of an ongoing process where you'd authorize a bot to monitor the code 
base.  That bot would then either submit patches or reviews (depending 
on preference) to fix any issues it identified.

I've got some basic code written - really basic! - which handles the 
actual patch generation.  I've been stalled thinking more about the 
interface and usage models than anything else.  My initial idea was a 
direct submission by the bot (after a build cycle of course), but pretty 
much every developer I talked to rejected that idea.  :) Having all the 
filters in place to identify the 'good changes' (as judged by this 
particular developer) has turned out to actually be the hard part.  I'm 
to the point where I feel I somewhat understand that part of it, but 
haven't switched back to actually writing code yet.

There's also the issue that such a service would require money to 
actually run.  I was actually thinking of this mostly as a possible 
business - which is part of the reason I've been stalled - but it could 
also be managed as a charity.  The operational budget wouldn't need to 
be huge, but it's not entirely trivial either.  (Particular if it gets 
any traction.)

If you'd be interested in collaborating on something, let me know.

Yours,
Philip