Event Details
ACAV: Aurora Clang Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) Viewer
Presenter: Min Liu
Supervisor:
Date: Thu, May 7, 2026
Time: 11:00:00 - 00:00:00
Place: Zoom - see below.
ABSTRACT
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Meeting ID: 860 6968 3463
Password: 445318
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Meeting ID: 860 6968 3463
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Abstract: The C and C++ programming languages underpin much of modern systems software, and every compiler-based tool — from static analyzers to AI coding assistants — depends on one key internal data structure: the abstract syntax tree (AST). Understanding how a compiler represents source code as an AST is valuable for anyone building or debugging such tools, as well as for students learning how compilers work. Clang, a widely used open-source C/C++ compiler frontend, can dump its AST as text, but the output can span thousands or even millions of lines with no way to navigate interactively.
This seminar presents ACAV (Aurora Clang AST Viewer), a graphical tool that lets users load a real C or C++ project and explore its Clang AST visually. The talk covers why ASTs matter, the engineering challenges of building a responsive viewer at project scale, and a live demonstration of bidirectional source-to-AST navigation, search, and node inspection.