Re: Will the availability of browsers affect source code?

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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