There has been a lot of buzz around the introduction of source code generators in .NET since .NET 5 with Microsoft making use of them for its own code in .NET 6 and .NET 7.

But, how did we get here and what may the future hold?

Starting with the question of "What is code generation?", I present a brief history of my journey into source code generation, starting with the ZX Spectrum (program published in a UK magazine to convert machine code into BASIC DATA statements)

The talk then moves on to do a whistle-stop tour of the various ways that code generation has been attempted in .NET over the last 20 years.

We then look at .NET source code generators -
* How they work
* Where Microsoft is now using them in .NET 6 and 7
* The potential dangers of trusting source generators from unverified sources

To wrap up the talk, we look at how AI is being leveraged to write code for you while you are developing in your IDE