diff --git a/ifex/model/ifex_ast_construction.py b/ifex/model/ifex_ast_construction.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21b06db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ifex/model/ifex_ast_construction.py
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2024 MBition GmbH.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+"""
+Light-weight support functions for creating an IFEX tree from program code,
+likely to be used in X-to-IFEX model conversions.
+"""
+
+# This module supports creating of an IFEX internal tree from python code.  It
+# is likely to be used in a <something>-to-IFEX (model-to-model) conversion.
+# It also adds a printout function so that an internal IFEX tree "AST"
+# representation can be printed out in the IFEX Core IDL format (in YAML)
+
+# Many programs that need to create IFEX are better off using a input-to-model
+# or model-to-model transformation (build the IFEX tree internally, and *then*
+# print text), compared to immediately printing IFEX core IDL text (YAML).
+
+# This code gives primitive but useful support.  It is simply implemented by
+# adding constructor (__init__) functions for the @dataclass node definitions
+# in ifex_ast.py. Object creation was of course already possible because
+# @dataclasses have automatic __init__ functions.  However, using the
+# type_checking_constructor_mixin code, it performs some type-checking of
+# the given inputs, which helps to avoid simply printing out a non-compliant
+# YAML document.
+
+# With __init__ it is possible to create an object tree in a straight forward
+# and expected way, including some type checks:
+#
+#    from ifex.model import ifex_ast_construction 
+#    from ifex.model.ifex_ast import Namespace, Interface, ...
+#
+#    # Initialize support:
+#    ifex_ast_construction.add_constructors_to_ifex_ast_model()
+#
+#    # Create objects and link them together.
+#    ns = Namespace('mynamespacename', description = 'this is it')
+#    if = Interface('the-interface-node')
+#    ns.interface = if
+#
+#    # (Re)assign member fields on any object
+#    ns.interface.methods = [... method objects...]
+#
+# etc.
+
+from collections import OrderedDict
+from dataclasses import is_dataclass, fields
+from ifex.model import ifex_ast
+from ifex.model.type_checking_constructor_mixin import add_constructor
+
+# Use the oyaml library because it supports OrderedDict. We can output keys in
+# the order they are defined in the AST classes (e.g. "name" comes first!)
+import oyaml
+
+def add_constructors_to_ifex_ast_model() -> None:
+    """ Mix in the type-checking constructor support into each of the ifex_ast classes: """
+    for c in [cls for cls in ifex_ast.__dict__.values() if
+              isinstance(cls, type) and
+              is_dataclass(cls)]:
+        add_constructor(c)
+
+
+def is_empty(node) -> bool:
+    if type(node) is str:
+        return node == ""
+    elif type(node) is list:
+        return node == []
+    else:
+        return node is None
+
+
+def ifex_ast_to_dict(node, debug_context="") -> OrderedDict:
+
+    """Given a root node, return a key-value mapping dict (which represents the YAML equivalent). The function is recursive. """
+
+    if node is None:
+        raise TypeError(f"None-value should not be passed to function, {debug_context=}")
+
+    # Strings and Ints are directly understood by the YAML output printer so just put them in.
+    if type(node) in [str, int]:
+        return node
+
+    # In addition to dicts, we might have python lists, which will be output as lists in YAML
+    #if is_list(node) or type(node) == list:
+    if type(node) == list:
+        ret = []
+        for listitem in node:
+            ret.append(ifex_ast_to_dict(listitem, debug_context=str(node)))
+        return ret
+
+    # New dict containing all key-value pairs at this level
+    ret = OrderedDict()
+
+    # Recursively process all fields in this object type.
+    # Empty fields should not be unnecessarily listed in the resulting YAML, so
+    # we skip them.  Note that empty items can happen only on fields that are
+    # Optional, otherwise the type-checking constructor would have caught the
+    # error.
+ 
+    for f in fields(node):
+        item = getattr(node, f.name)
+        if not is_empty(item):
+            ret[f.name] = ifex_ast_to_dict(item, debug_context=str(f))
+
+    return ret 
+
+
+def ifex_ast_as_yaml(node):
+    return oyaml.dump(ifex_ast_to_dict(node))
+
+# ----------------- TEST CODE BELOW --------------------
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    from ifex.model.ifex_ast import AST, Namespace, Interface, Method, Argument
+
+    # How to create a AST representation in code:
+    root = AST('test')
+    ns1 = Namespace('name_ns1')
+    root.namespaces = [ns1, Namespace('another_empty_namespace')]
+    if_a = Interface('name_if_a')
+    if_a.methods.append(Method('mymethod'))
+    m = Method('mymethod2', description = "This is the second method", input = [Argument(name='val', datatype='uint32')])
+    if_a.methods.append(m)
+    ns1.interface = if_a
+
+    print("\n--- Test objects converted to dict: ---")
+    print(ifex_ast_to_dict(root))
+    print("\n--- Test objects as YAML: ---")
+    print(ifex_ast_as_yaml(root))
+
diff --git a/ifex/model/type_checking_constructor_mixin.py b/ifex/model/type_checking_constructor_mixin.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed36cb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ifex/model/type_checking_constructor_mixin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2024 MBition GmbH.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+"""
+This module adds a type-checking constructor to dataclass definitions if they have type hints using the python typing module.
+"""
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass, fields
+from typing import get_type_hints, List, Optional
+from ifex.model.ifex_ast_introspect import is_list, actual_type, inner_type, field_is_optional
+
+def is_correct_type(value, _type):
+    if type(value) is list and is_list(_type):
+        # In standard python code values placed _inside_ a list could be of any
+        # type (and different types!)   We want to check that the specification
+        # is fulfilled, so we check that all values in list have the right type:
+        expected_type = inner_type(_type)
+        return all(type(v) == expected_type for v in value)
+    else: # Non-list field, just check single type:
+        return type(value) == actual_type(_type)
+
+
+def add_constructor(cls):
+    """
+    Adds a type-checking constructor (__init__) to a named dataclass, based on its member fields, and their type specifications.
+    """
+    # Get the names and types of the member variables (fields) in the dataclass
+    arg_names = [f.name for f in fields(cls)]
+    arg_types = get_type_hints(cls)  # (dict mapping name->type)
+
+    # Store original init function. It will be called from within the new constructor and
+    # because of closure magic, the correct one will be called.
+    orig_init = cls.__init__
+
+    # Define the constructor function
+    def type_checking_constructor(self, *args, **kwargs):
+
+        # Initialize object using the original __init__ first - this calls the default_factory stuff, for example
+        orig_init(self, *args, **kwargs)
+
+        # First check that enough args are given
+        if len([f for f in fields(cls) if not field_is_optional(f)]) > (len(args) + len(kwargs)):
+           raise TypeError(f'Object construction error:  Not all mandatory arguments were given, through positional or keyword arguments')
+
+        # Now check arguments against their expected type:
+
+        # 1. Check positional arguments with the name/value zip. It works because 
+        #    positional args are required to be in the same order as the fields.
+        #    The zip function will create pairs, only for as many args that are
+        #    given in *args and then stop.  Therefore, this checks each of the
+        #    positional args against the corresponding field.  Any fields that
+        #    remain are either optional (a default value in the dataclass will
+        #    remain), or given as keyword arguments. 
+        # 2. Next, check keyword arguments using the **kwargs (name/value pairs)
+        # 3. Since the check is identical for both, it is combined into one loop.
+
+        for name, value in list(zip(arg_names, args)) + list(kwargs.items()):
+            if not is_correct_type(value, arg_types[name]):
+               raise TypeError(f'Object construction error: According to specification, value named \'{name}\' must be of type {arg_types[name]}, but instead {type(value)=}.')
+
+            # Assign field value
+            setattr(self, name, value)
+
+
+
+    # Add the constructor to the metaclass
+    cls.__init__ = type_checking_constructor
+
+    return cls
+
+
+# ---- TEST CODE ----
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+
+    @add_constructor
+    @dataclass
+    class Special:
+        s: Optional[str] = 'special'
+        i: Optional[int] = 42
+
+    @add_constructor
+    @dataclass
+    class Person:
+        name: str
+        height: float
+        hobbies: List[str]
+        age: Optional[int] = 99
+        special: Optional[Special] = None
+
+    @dataclass
+    class Test:
+        name: str
+        height: float
+        hobbies: List[str]
+        age: Optional[int] = 99
+        special: Optional[Special] = None
+
+    # Example of a correct object
+    p = Person('Alice', 1.75, ['reading', 'swimming'], age=25)
+    print("If no error then this passed: ", p.name, p.age, p.height, p.hobbies, p.special)
+
+    # Example of a correct object, with an inner complex type
+    p = Person('Bob', 1.75, ['reading', 'swimming'], 30, Special('foo',1000))
+    print("If no error then this passed: ", p.name, p.age, p.height, p.hobbies, p.special)
+
+    # Example of a correct object, skipping optional values
+    p = Person('Celine', 1.75, ['reading', 'swimming'])
+    print("If no error then this passed: ", p.name, p.age, p.height, p.hobbies, p.special)
+
+    # Example of a correct object, with default values
+    p = Person('Darwin', 1.75, ['reading', 'swimming'], 45, Special('bar'))
+    print("If no error then this passed: ", p.name, p.age, p.height, p.hobbies, p.special)
+
+    # Example of a correct object, using keyword arguments
+    p = Person('Eric', 1.75, special = Special(), age = 55, hobbies = ['reading', 'swimming'])
+    print("If no error then this passed: ", p.name, p.age, p.height, p.hobbies, p.special)
+
+    # This example raises TypeError because we not all mandatory fields are specified
+    try:
+        p = Person('Fiona', hobbies = ['boxing'])
+    except TypeError as e:
+        print("---------------------------------------------------------------")
+        print(f"=> Passed test because we caught an /expected/ type exception:")
+        print("    " + str(e))
+        print("---------------------------------------------------------------")
+
+    # This example raises TypeError because age '35' is given as string instead of int:
+    try:
+        p = Person('George', 1.80, ['hiking', 'biking'], '35')
+    except TypeError as e:
+        print("---------------------------------------------------------------")
+        print(f"=> Passed test because we caught an /expected/ type exception:")
+        print("    " + str(e))
+        print("---------------------------------------------------------------")
+
+    # This example raises TypeError because we hobbies has a non-string element
+    try:
+        p = Person('Hilda', 1.85, ['running', 'basketball', 42], 45)
+    except TypeError as e:
+        print("---------------------------------------------------------------")
+        print(f"=> Passed test because we caught an /expected/ type exception:")
+        print("    " + str(e))
+        print("---------------------------------------------------------------")
+