Re: Is this a new idea?

M.J.Landzaat@fel.tno.nl (Maarten Landzaat) writes:
>[a compiler] that during my editing, reads the program text I typed in so
>far, and tries to compile and link it as much as it can in the background,
>with low priority so nobody gets bad response.


I can see several reasons why something like this would be of limited
value:


If you make an error near the top of the file, what do you want it to do;
notify you immediately (thus interrupting your train of thought), or give
up and wait till you type 'cc'? If the second, the advantage is lost
anyway, the first I would find extremely counter-productive.


what about multi-module programs?


Lastly, the speed at which my desktop machine (Sparc SLC - not exactly
state of the art) compiles far exceeds the rate at which I can input
code. Most compile time is taken by large programs that have just had
a small modification, and the compilation could probably not proceed very
far until I finish the mods anyway.
--
  Clyde Smith-Stubbs | HI-TECH Software, | Voice: +61 7 300 5011
  clyde@hitech.com.au | P.O. Box 103, Alderley, | Fax: +61 7 300 5246
  ...!nwnexus!hitech!clyde | QLD, 4051, AUSTRALIA. | BBS: +61 7 300 5235
[Scanning and parsing can be as much as half of the total time that a
compiler takes (so says Ken Thompson of his Plan 9 C compiler) and that is
quite amenable to incremental precalculation. -John]
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