Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code?

lkaplan@BIX.com (Leonard Kaplan)
Thu, 11 May 1995 21:39:13 GMT

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Related articles
[4 earlier articles]
Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code? norman@flaubert.bellcore.com (1995-05-01)
Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code? jeremy@sw.oz.au (1995-05-01)
Will the availability of browsers affect source code? Dave@occl-cam.demon.co.uk (Dave Lloyd) (1995-05-09)
Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code? bernecky@eecg.toronto.edu (1995-05-11)
Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code? Roger@natron.demon.co.uk (Roger Barnett) (1995-05-08)
Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code? tculver@math.duke.edu (1995-05-09)
Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code? lkaplan@BIX.com (1995-05-11)
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Newsgroups: comp.compilers
From: lkaplan@BIX.com (Leonard Kaplan)
Keywords: syntax, tools, design
Organization: Galahad
References: 95-05-029
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 21:39:13 GMT

Dave Lloyd wrote:
>But maybe it won't be too long before I can sit down to a table of contents
>with my module (or class or ...) hierarchy and appendices for a symbol
>index,
>compiler logs and previous versions.


How about that, but in conjunction with (and generated by) a source-code
"DBMS"? I believe this has been done for revision-management (and
team-management) purposes, at least down to the file level, but I haven't
heard of a "programmer's editor" that uses it.


Something like:


1) Each function / macro gets its own "raw" source file, and appropriate
information is stored in a table (function name, return value, parameters,
and so on);


2) The user can request that certain functions be "grouped" - this forces
them to be compiled together (same "generated source file"), and allows the
use of variables static to that group;


3) Global variables are stored in a table appropriately indexed;


4) Group-static variables (group as used above) also kept in a table, as above;


5) Documentation external to the code could also be linked in, in some
manner (and be readable while in the editor); and


6) Press a button, the appropriate "output" source files / header files /
commands get built.


I suspect this would actually take the form of a shell that would, in turn,
call Your Favorite Text Editor (everybody's own choice always being the
best there is :-) and Your Favorite Documentation Viewer.


It's not exactly a browser, I suppose, at least not in the Web or hypertext
sense, but might be a good tool for large projects, and for helping newbies
come up to speed quickly.


-Len
--


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